Listen to this interview from NPR with Amy Dickinson, (Syndicated Columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Author of “The Mighty Queens of Freeville“), to learn methods to start the conversation and family process of moving a elderly parent to an assisted living facility.   

Ms. DICKINSON: Here’s what happened. With us - I think this is very typical - you start crying in the snow, in the parking lot of the hospital because your frail, elderly family member is falling or, you know, ill or - so these conversations usually start among, you know, younger family members when everyone is under duress, and it’s an emergency and everybody flies into action. And then nothing really happens because no one can broach it with the older - your parent recovers enough to get back home. They’re like: That’ll never happen again. I’m good.

My mom was so great. She was like: I’m good. But we saw that that was not the case, and so my sisters and I - you know, one aspect of this is, I know it tears some families apart. It actually brought us very close.

Click here for audio interview: