My dad is a Veteran of the Korean Conflict. He served on the USS McKean. He turned 84 this year. He is still able to drive and do things around the house. My mom currently had a knee replacement and spent a couple of weeks in rehab. She recently fell and broke her hip, putting her in the hospital for hip surgery and a few week rehab stay. She’s back at home getting her feet under her so she can get back to her health.

My parents are well aware of the VA Aid and Attendance pension. Dad tells me he should be able to qualify. I tell him he will at some point in the future when his level of care increases. I tell my mom the same thing. When you’re not able to drive and do some things for yourselves around the house is when we will start look at getting you the Aid and Attendance pension.

When exactly will my parents be eligible for this pension? I speak with people everyday about this exact topic. They tell me their stories about their loved ones and the situations they are in. It can be a difficult time for most families as they struggle with parenting the parent. Our parents remember when they parented us. For us, their children to parent them, does not always go over very well. If you saw the movie Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood, when his children came over to wish him a Happy Birthday with cake and showed him a few assisted living brochures, this did not go over very well. I can still remember the look on Clint Eastwood’s face and how his children felt as they were kicked out of his house.

The main focus for us as children is to make sure we are well informed of what is out there for our parents and being proactive with this ahead of time. Everything stems from money. Will our parents have enough money to take care of them in the future? Avoiding this will just make for a lot of anxiety and stress in our lives when the time comes to make fast and hard decisions relating to our parents care.

Senior Care Associates will answer these questions and give you some very good sound advice that will take the edge off. Give us a call!