A Gift of Time
As I've mentioned before, one of the most interesting aspects of my business is that no two moves or clients are the same. There are times when we work directly with the senior and then there are times when we are working with the adult child on behalf of their parent. This was the situation with our latest move and we were so honored to get to be involved in giving an unexpected gift at the end of the move.
Ms. L, the daughter of the senior client, contacted me with a complex move. Her mom, Mrs. A, at age 91, needed to be moved to a different senior community that would better fit her needs. The difficulty came with the fact that she did not live locally and was having to coordinate a complete downsize and transition from many miles away. Mrs. A had a 2 bedroom apartment and was moving to a companion suite, meaning a major downsize was going to need to take place. Ms. L was going to be in town for only 3 days and knew that she could not possibly complete the task at hand on her own. She also wanted to spend time with her mother, but anticipated that would be very limited due to the time constraints and the massive project for the 3 days. We were happy to step in and assist.
Ms. L and I spoke over the phone and emailed several times over the course of a few weeks to plan as much as we could ahead of her arrival. I toured the new community, saw Mrs. A's new room and created a floor plan so we would know exactly what we could fit in the new space. The afternoon Ms. L arrived, my team was waiting and ready to pack Mrs. A's belongings that would be accompanying her to her new residence as well as oversee the movers that were handling the heavy lifting and delivery of Mrs. A's furniture. We spent the rest of the day carefully unpacking, labeling every personal item and arranging Mrs. A's new room to feel as much like her previous place, even making sure the wall hangings above her bed were there at the new residence. Again, as per our policy, every box was unpacked and every item stored in it's new home.
The following 2 days consisted of sorting, donation packing and purging items leftover at Mrs. A's old apartment. Our team worked closely with Ms. L to determine what items she wanted to keep for herself and then we took care of getting those items shipped to her home states away. We also set up a great donation of furniture and household items with Lifeline Ministries, one of our partner charities. By the time we were finished the apartment was emptied of all the contents other than a few furniture pieces that family was picking up that evening.
There was a collective sigh of relief, by Ms. L and everyone involved, to know that what seemed an impossible task, had been completed and done so ahead of schedule. That's where the gift comes in. Ms. L did not anticipate having any real time to spend with her mom due everything that needed to be accomplished in such a short period of time. After a warm hug and some thank you's, Ms. L said "I couldn't have done this without you." The gift of time we were able to give to Ms. L to spend with her mom is priceless and why we have the motto "Getting You Back To What Really Matters." Yes, there are tasks that you have to complete and they can seem insurmountable, but by hiring reSettled Life, Ms. L was able to get back to really mattered and spend some quality time with her 91 year old mother. That is why this company exists and why we get to leave clients with a smile on our faces, to give something as precious as time with a loved one is a beautiful gift and one we love to be a part of!
Making sure these special pieces were hanging in this arrangement above Mrs. A's bed in her new residence was an important factor in our resettling process.
Melanie, one of our team members, carefully sorting and packing years worth of items in Mrs. A's apartment.
The results of our work!