Plan B

My mother always knew that she would eventually need to be in a place that would take care of her. She accumulated videos in great number. She told me it was so that her room would be where the nurses would gather. Never, did she imagine that her brain would fail her so completely.

Grace also told me at what facility she wanted to be. We went there one day while she still lived independently. We walked in the door to a sea of empty faces in wheelchairs. The tour of the facility was impressive. They did as much as possible to make the place bright and cheery. I watched her as the color left her face. She panicked. "Get me out of here." I knew she would never be back. She was at the very beginning of her disease. Maybe on some level she knew she would be one of the vacant faces. I never asked.

Neither of my parents ever imagined in their wildest dreams that Grace would end up living with me. None of their "preparations" took this into account. The irony is that I always knew.