My mom and stepdad live in the suburbs and are no longer driving. Both of them are in their late 80s and anything they want to do requires a ride. There’s nothing within walking distance of their home, so that can be isolating and difficult. Fortunately, they have enough money saved to pay a woman to drive them around for errands and doctor appointment a few hours each week.
But what is the plan in your family? This question becomes especially important if your elders live in the suburbs and are well past the time when they’re safe to be out on the roads by themselves, like my mom and her husband.
If you have siblings, you should really get together and talk about how to see to the mobility of your aging parents or grandparents.
There are tough choices to be made for sure. On the one hand, everyone has the need to be independent. Yet you have to balance that with the fact that people reach a point when they pose a danger to themselves and others when they’re behind the wheel.
The one thing you don’t want to do is to ignore this and have them become a virtual shut-in.
