Your Parents' Safety Deposit Box

It’s Nearly 2009: Do you know what’s in your parents safety deposit box?

If you are among the largest American demographic—aging Baby Boomers—you likely have one or both parents who are part of the rapidly disappearing WWII generation. You may be dealing with your parents’ declining health, their ability to live independently and eventual demise.

My own mother has had two bouts of life threatening infections this year requiring scrutiny of her ability to continue living independently, her willingness to make lifestyle changes, and end of life issues. And she lives 150 miles from us. When she first moved from Gig Harbor to Ilwaco she was of reasonably sound mind and took care of her own affairs. That was ten years ago.

Our family spent this Thanksgiving in Ilwaco. The kids went home Saturday so after they’d left leaving my friends Jo & Jon and me to take my mother shopping we sat down for wonderful leftovers followed by the inspection of the contents of my mother’s safety deposit box.

On Friday we had gone to the bank in search of my mother’s life insurance policy which we need for her application to DSHS for Medicaid and in order to get help paying her somewhat extensive medical bills this year. What I believed would be a quick, easy trip, proved more daunting when her small box popped open to reveal about eight inches of disorganized envelopes and papers and the sought after policy not readily apparent. With a turkey on the barbecue and a Thanksgiving dinner to cook we decided to take the contents, in a large envelope provided by her bank, back to the house to be dealt with later.

Do you know what’s in your parents’ safety deposit box? We laughed, we cried, we didn’t find the $200 life insurance policy DSHS is asking for, but we did find some interesting things. If you are interested in finding out what we did find, check out The View From My Broom.

Preserving Memories

Many of us grew up with parents, particularly fathers, who owned cameras of one variety or another and who documented our childhoods in 8 or 16 mm film or 35 mm slides. For Baby Boomers parents are passing away and the films are aging. If not preserved someday a piece of American history, that of the Cold War Era, will pass away, too.

If you have aging film and slides that you want to preserve on DVD for your children and grandchildren I highly recommend that you deal with someone local. What seemed like an answer to a prayer when I found Florida Home Movies, turned into a bit of a nightmare because I could not go to the business and find out how things were going.

If you are interested in my experience check it out on The View From My Broom.

Raising Mother

Baby Boomers Trade Childcare for Parent Care

Dave escaped yesterday. It took three buses and a train to get him back to Gig Harbor from Ilwaco, but he made his escape and under the circumstances I cannot blame him, only wish I would have been able to go, too.

My mother is ill and I am wending my way through American medicine and health care and the disposition of the elderly. I know I am not alone. We Baby Boomers have raised our children, are nearing retirement and would like to enjoy our grandchildren, but a new responsibility has replaced childrearing—care for aging parents.
This experience has been made needlessly harder from the beginning. I have dubbed it “St. Elsewhere of the Coast.” From the failure of the ambulance attendants to properly asses my mother when her medical security system called them—the first time—to the hospital’s decision to release her there has been frustration in getting her the help she needs.

If this subject interests you, read the rest of the story on my View from My Broom blog.