Get help. You don’t have to do it all on your own. There’s packing, unpacking, garage or yard sales, selling the old Crown Point , Hobart , or Valparaiso home, cleaning and prepping the new one . Enlist your brothers and sisters, other family members, even your children and long-time good neighbors of your parents to help out with some of the smaller tasks. The job can seem daunting. This is one of those times you should take advantage of the relationships you have with others who like you love your mom and pop. Recruit them to help you help your parents.

Prepare the elderly friendly new home . Do you need handrails in bathrooms? Maybe a wheelchair ramp to the front door? How about no skid matting in the tub? Do a walkthrough of the new home, even if mom and dad are moving in with you , to make sure when they arrive they can get in and out and around safely.

Be there emotionally. Moves like these are trying for everyone involved. Just keep in mind how many years your folks have lived in the home they now see themselves as leaving forever. Honor the memories they and the rest of the family have created over the years while living there, yet focus on a positive future of opportunity in their new digs. What benefits will the new location provide that the old one lacked? Proximity to family? A more active and healthy social life? Help them view this move as an exciting new chapter in the family history, not the end of the book