Deciding Whether to Age in Place

The Washington Post on Tuesday published a two-part piece about aging in place (or not). The first, from Rita Zeidner described the apprehension she felt when her parents, approaching 80, decided to move out of their home and into a retirement community. The second was written by her mother, Sylvia Zeidner. The daughter said that it took a few months for her to come to terms with her parents' decision, while her mother's view was that she and her husband were happy to be able to make the decision themselves.

As I see it, aging gracefully requires coming to terms with the cards we're dealt. And that's where timing comes in. Sooner or later my husband and I were going to have to move out of our home for health reasons. Choosing the right time meant doing it on our terms, not someone else's.