We moved my mom!

I'm back home after moving my mom into her new home, a wonderful progressive care facility where she's in a small group of residents with dementia but who can still handle some degree of independence.

My youngest sister and brother helped with the move, which went way smoother than I had anticipated. Here we are in her new apartment, with her favorite chair. She offered up no resistance the day of the move and didn't complain at all on the two-hour drive from Los Angeles to San Diego County, near my brother.

We had to order a smaller sofa, but we brought the middle pillow from her old couch at home. Every night for years she has turned on her electric candles and the string of colored lights in the evening, so we were sure to bring those down. We'll be hanging pictures above the couch.

Her bedroom has a sunny view of neighborhood backyards, which I think is nice because she can see life and kids playing.

There are light-filled, comfy common areas. She gravitated toward this sitting area.

Her little group eats family style together, and they were very welcoming to her. The first night was bacon-wrapped filet mignon with baked potato, mushrooms in a sauce, and carrot cake, cheesecake and/or ice cream! Or a sandwich if preferred. (The other residents were quick to point out that they don't get filet mignon every night.)

Here she is on a very pleasant patio off the dining room. It has a potting bench where residents can help with gardening, so I hope she'll get involved in that. The staff is wonderful about getting them involved.

There are movies every night, which is something she and my dad did at home before he passed away in April. We asked the staff to escort her to and from the movies so she doesn't get lost. And they keep them busy with brain games for the dementia, physical exercise, PT if they need it. It's working out!!!

After we got back to the house, we ordered pizza and collapsed. No, actually my sister and I were still running on adrenalin so we bustled about cleaning and sorting and tossing. Then we collapsed.

We continued sorting through the hundreds of photos we were finding in drawers, including this one of our family in our Easter finest in 1972. That's me second from left.

My last morning, I took photos of little things around the house that I want to remember. This is one of my dad's caps that's always hanging in the entryway. The photo below is the view walking out the front door as I went to meet my Uber driver to go to LAX and fly home.

Hug your loved ones!