Breathing Room For Aunt Jane to Grieve

Our beloved Aunt Jane and Aunt Margaret have been strong mutual supports for each other for decades, sharing apartments, looking after each other, and pooling their resources on their fixed retirement income. Since July 2022, they have needed more support and found a great home health agency in Stamford to help them live independently. Unfortunately, Aunt Margaret became acutely ill, and after 12 days in the hospital, was discharged to what was supposedly the good area nursing home for a rehab stint. There she experienced both neglect and mistreatment, and Aunt Jane stepped up to protect her by hiring a home health aide “sitter” to advocate for her sister around the clock until she could be discharged to home. Jane arranged a medical bed for Margaret’s room, and Margaret experienced a safe few days at home with her sister and cat in beautiful surroundings before suffering a fatal complication on Friday, August 19.

Margaret wasn’t really ready to come home. She still needed round-the-clock care, and Aunt Jane made sure she had it, hiring home health aides. We are so grateful that Aunt Jane made the decisions she did to protect Aunt Margaret from a dangerous and upsetting situation at the rehab facility. Those last, comfortable days were a gift.

But now Aunt Jane needs our help. With Aunt Margaret’s passing, half her household income is now gone. She knows she will need to downsize to an apartment she can afford on her single income, but we want her to have time to find a new place and allow her some breathing room while she grieves. We want to collectively help pay for the $4,000 of home health care Aunt Margaret needed in her final days and help Aunt Jane pay her rent and bills for the home care assistance she herself needs in the near term. Let’s lift her up while she is grieving.