Arizona

I took Mom down to the Motor Vehicle Division office today to apply for her Arizona ID card. I supplied her California ID and her Social Security Card to identify her, but the combination of those two ID forms failed to absolutely prove her identification. What they needed was a passport or a birth certificate.

I took Mom back to her ranch and since it was almost time for lunch, I dropped her off at the dining room. I then returned home to see how I could get a copy of her birth certificate.

I did an internet search and found the Los Angeles County hall of records website. There were specific instructions for how I could get her birth certificate. I needed to fill out a form and then another form needed to be notarized. Luckily, our real estate agent (who sold us our lot where we built our house) had a notary on staff who was only happy to notarize our paperwork.

I enclosed the paperwork, a self addressed stamped envelope, the $23 ripoff for LA County and dropped it off at the USPS. Hopefully, I will have her birth certificate in a week or two, at which time, we can complete the ID application with the State of Arizona.

Over the last two days, I have made a marathon trip to California to fetch our Mom to her new accommodations here in beautiful Wickenburg, AZ. Overall, the traffic was not too terrible, but the usual watch your @$$ factor for the California Crazies on the road did apply. There were a couple of times where I got cut off by stupid lane changes where the other driver’s rear bumper was a mere four feet in front of my front bumper.

Image: Mom and me on the back patio – image courtesy Verna. Click to enlarge.

Luckily, the trip was without incident and Mom is safely spending the night here in beautiful Casa Casandro. As I write this, she is all settled in on the sofa in the great room with the TV and some of her favorite word puzzles. (Note to self – get more word puzzle books.)

Tomorrow, we will enroll her in the assisted living program at our local retirement ranch. She is sad about leaving her cats and daughter in California, but looks forward to meeting new friends and getting quality 24/7 care. She really likes our house, so we can look forward to having her over for visits and food from time to time.

I got a call from my sister in California yesterday morning. She called to advise me that it was just about time to place our nonagenarian Mom in an assisted living facility. Mom had an episode this morning where she fell out of her chair at home and was unable to get up. She called the Fire Department, who had to break into her house, for help.

Mom lives in her house about a block away from my sister’s house. My sister looks in on her once a day, but wasn’t present for the incident.

So, after much discussion between Mom, my sister and I, we decided that it would be best to have her in a place where she can be cared for 24/7. That’s the down side of it. The positive side is that I think we can move Mom to Wickenburg, close to us.

I visited an assisted care facility a mere 1/2 mile from here. We often pass by the retirement ranch going to town. I liked what I saw, what they told me and the people there.

Mom’s a bit bummed about the whole thing, but I’m confident that when she gets here she will love it as much as we do. I sent her a brochure from the ranch along with a letter that states what’s to like about being here:

The little town of Wickenburg is a very good environment. We have clean air, a very low crime rate, it is quiet, has a mild climate and plenty of Western character. The only thing it lacks is YOU!

We hope to have her here for her 93rd birthday, Mother’s Day and many other happy days.