It's not always a dramatic event that gets your attention. Sometimes it's a recurring thought that surfaces at odd moments: while you're commuting through Cherry Hill, standing in line at the pharmacy, or lying awake at 2 a.m. Is Mom really okay?
You've started lingering a little longer at the end of each visit. Not because the conversation is so good, though it is, but because you're scanning. The carpet edge that keeps curling up near the hallway. The way your parent lowers themselves into a chair like they're negotiating with gravity. The faint smell of something burned in the kitchen that no one mentions.
Here's a question worth sitting with: If your loved one moved into a senior living community tomorrow, would they be healthier six months from now, or just safer?