by Claire
I went off the grid for too long but with good reason. My mother had a health scare with an emergency surgery for a femeral hernia. There was a scary point that they thought it was a strangulated hernia which can be extremely dangerous and even fatal if not caught quickly. She is home now and recovering well. As strange as it is to say this, our family needed this jolt right now. Ever since my aunt’s death in May of 2012, there has been tension. I think that situation made all five of us think about what we face with our aging parents.
We are lucky in that our parents have everything in order on the legal front. We know who does what and each of us has some responsibility. We are also lucky that all five of us can be counted on to step up when the time comes; although certainly the two of us that are local face more day-to-day stuff with the parents. We all use humor to deal with the reality but I like to think we are in a better position than most when it comes to being prepared.
As I go about living my regular life–even these stressful moments–I keep thinking about the blog and what financial issues are arising in the moment. There was good news and bad. I always like to start with the bad: I blew the budget over the last 5 days. I was on the go like a maniac and any plan I might have had for my spending went out the window as I drove up and down IH35 to help my parents and then also take care of the kids. I was eating crap out of windows (I don’t know how to spell out the sound of a seagull but please insert it in your head at this time) and running to the store I do not know how many times to get things my parents needed. I stocked them up on groceries and prepared as many meals as I could before having to plug back into my reality. I haven’t even sat down yet to see the damage done but this experience did help me decide what to do with my “extra money” once my debt is gone: I want six months of living expenses socked away in my emergency account. If I keep this mentality that I’m broke it won’t take long to get there. Then when things like this week hit (which they inevitably will), it is but a mere speed bump and not a “situation to be solved.”
It’s nice to make decisions and really nice not to have to consult with a difficult husband when I do so! 🙂
