2026 Life Logs, Day 147: More Deliberations About Moving My Sister to MA
Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Weather: Sunny with Some Cloudy Periods; High Temp 68, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today I revisited the two assisted living possibilities here in Falmouth for my sister Patsy. Since I visited Atria on Thursday, the room I looked at has already been taken. The room now available is even smaller than the first one. After the visit, I spent more time gathering feedback on this move. In the afternoon I had an Encore Programs meeting and then visited the second assisted living possibility, this time with my daughter Heather. I really needed another set of eyes and it was very helpful to have Heather along. My sister is not capable of making this decision for herself, so as her legal Healthcare POA, the decision falls to me. And I have to say, I am finding the whole process a bit overwhelming. Deciding which place is best for her, reading through the disclosure of rights and services of both places, figuring out the timing on when and how to make the move, and then finding a new primary care and a glaucoma doctor for her, transferring her health insurance, buying all new furniture, and on and on and on. I’ll get through this, but right now it is all consuming.
I did do one thing for myself today. I went to a Woodwell Climate Conversation on “Healing the Earth from the ground up: How farms can fight climate change.” Two scientists from Woodwell, Ludmila Rattis and José Lucas Safanelli, who both grew up on farms in Brazil, talked about the “hidden power of croplands and how regenerative farming practices that restore soil health can store carbon, strengthen resilience, and protect our planet.” The June conversation will be with a farmer from Martha’s Vineyard, and I hope to attend that one as well. I have always been interested in how we grow our food, and this evening’s conversation helped grow my knowledge.
One last note about food. Yesterday Heather gave me aa batch of lamb’s quarter that she weeded out of her raised beds on the deck. Lamb’s quarter is known as a weed to most people, but it is edible, much like spinach, but with ten times the vitamins and minerals. My mom taught me that in the springtime, fixing a mix of lamb’s quarter and pokeweed leaves gives your body what she called a ‘jumpstart’. So, I went on an excursion through my yard to find some pokeweed. It is just beginning to come up, but I found enough to compliment the lamb’s quarter. Pokeweed leaves have to be double boiled in water to get rid of the toxins, but I have prepared these common weeds to eat for many years. And I will share this spring delicacy with Heather tomorrow.
Lamb’s Quarter Young Pokeweed
