[GarysFamily]

I am sharing this story hoping that someone who was in the same boat as me may benefit.
My Dad is 84 and has lived in The Villages since 2007. He retired in 2010 and has been living by himself since 2016. I am his only immediate family and I live in New Hampshire, and I only have the opportunity to visit once a year.
He has been steadily slipping in many areas, but it was not until I visited in November, 2017, did I realize how serious things were. His dementia had become fully evident and he was increasingly shutting himself off from the rest of the world accelerating his decline. There was no way he should have been living by himself in a 3 bedroom villa in The Villages, let alone be driving.
I posted on The Villages forum during that visit asking for advice, and it was my lucky day that Nancy answered my plea.
Nancy offered elderly care and has experience in the medical arena, accounting, and IT- all areas which my Dad needed a lot of help. She is highly organized and not afraid of challenges. Most importantly, she has a big heart and has my Dad’s best interest at all times. This can’t be emphasized enough.
Nancy immediately dove in and helped my Dad organize his medications, his countless doctors appointments and his bills. When numerous other challenges presented themselves such as home repair, coordinating with service companies, or infinite forgotten passwords, Nancy jumped right in to do whatever it took to help out my Dad who needed all he help he could get.
More importantly, Nancy was my eyes on the ground help. It is hard enough to go through this when you are local to your loved one, but it is extremely challenging when trying to manage all this from 1,000 miles away. We were in constant communication discussing the latest pitfalls and challenges for my Dad. She set up an online Dropbox folder shared with me for all bills, medical records, etc. that I needed to manage my Dad’s accounts. When we needed somebody to do something that was beyond what either of us could do, she would research and find the right person. She also has a large network of trusted competent friends in The Villages she can fall back on. She even recommended an outstanding realtor Cissie Smith who helped sell my Dad’s house for top dollar in 3 days.
She was a reliable confidant and shoulder to lean on when the time came for me to fly down and convince my Dad to move to an assisted living/memory care facility. She was a life-saver when my Dad had to go to the emergency room with serious illness that briefly sent him to hospice status. Fortunately, he recovered enough to be flown with me up to New Hampshire.
Nancy earned my trust as if she was my sister. I gave her complete access to his house and most of his records so she could help out more efficiently. She never let me down.
Anyone who has been through the process of taking care of elderly relatives can attest how stressful and consuming this process is. There is no way I could have survived without her. She has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty to help my Dad and I make it through this major life changing transition. She never said “I can’t do that.” She is always positive and incredibly resourceful.
I am sharing this long story because I suspect you or someone you know may be in the same situation I was in. If so, I can’t recommend Nancy strongly enough. Not only did we get life saving help at a time we needed it the most, but I adopted a new sister.
Feel free to contact me any time if you would like to discuss or get more info about Nancy.

[Heyitsrick]

Hi, that's a great story; thanks. You mentioned her first name, but no last name or contact info. Can you PM that info for her to me if you're leery of posting it publicly? Thank you.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by GarysFamily

I am sharing this story hoping that someone who was in the same boat as me may benefit.
Feel free to contact me any time if you would like to discuss or get more info about Nancy.

Original post edited: Gary'sFamily this is a great post and much needed in TV. It would be good to have Nancy's information and phone number for future reference for people in need of this kind of help. In fact, it would be good to have a file available for people such as Nancy should the time come when a Nancy would be required.

[BK001]

Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee

Original post edited: Gary'sFamily this is a great post and much needed in TV. It would be good to have Nancy's information and phone number for future reference for people in need of this kind of help. In fact, it would be good to have a file available for people such as Nancy should the time come when a Nancy would be required.

You are so right. I used to think that I would like to do this kind of work but now I'm thinking about how will we manage (my husband and I) when we need this kind of help. Although we are both 2nd marriages, neither of us have any children.