Member-only story
My 82 year-old Mother Makes Me Coffee
She moved in with me to save her life; now she’s helping to save mine
About 11 years ago, my mother moved in with us. We invited her to do so.
Actually, my husband at the time told me we should have her move in with us because she was dreadfully unhappy living with my brother.
She has always been a happy person. As a child, I remember that she was strict, but she was also loving and laughed a lot.
But while she was living with my brother, she was crying a lot. We’d call her and she would often sound sad and miserable.
My brother had forced her to move in with him after my father died. He wanted to rent out the house she had lived in. My father had left the house to him as is customary in India, where my parents are from. The assumption had been that Mom could live in that house for the rest of her life, which is what she wanted.
My brother said he was concerned about my mother living on her own. But… that is what she wanted. And, except for arthritis, she was taking care of herself. She cooked meals, went shopping, managed her own doctors’ appointments… if she needed help with anything, there were neighbors and friends who she had known for decades.
