Why she turns down the invitation on Wednesday and gets her coat on Saturday, and where to take her this fall without making it a production.
Ask her on Wednesday and she’ll say she doesn’t feel like it. Show up Saturday with the car running and she’ll get her coat.
That’s not contradiction. When you ask in advance, she has to imagine the whole thing, the getting ready and the walking and the being seen, and from the chair that sounds like a lot. When you’re already there, all she has to do is stand up.
So stop asking and start arriving. And keep it short, because two hours is the sweet spot and four is a mistake you only make once.
Fall is the good season for this around here. Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck on a weekday morning, before the weekend crowd. The Red Bank riverfront when the water’s flat. Sitting in the car at Sandy Hook with the windows down, which counts, and which she will like more than you expect. Sunday morning at a diner where she can read the entire menu and order the same thing she’s ordered since 1987.
Bring the grandkids if you can get them. A ninety year old woman and a twelve year old are surprisingly good company for each other, mostly because neither one is managing the other.
One thing worth knowing. Late afternoon is harder for a lot of seniors, especially once we set the clocks back in a few weeks. Aim for morning.
And if Saturdays are already spoken for in your house, that’s a real answer, not a failure. It’s one of the most common things families hand to us. Somebody shows up, gets her out, brings her home. She talks about it for three days.
The leaves start turning in a couple of weeks. Put something on the calendar now.
Seniors Helping Seniors® Jersey Shore North Home care, respite, personal care, and transportation in Monmouth, Middlesex, and Ocean Counties, NJ. www.JSNorthSHS.com | info@JSNorthSHS.com | 732-385-8805