Jeanne PhillipsDEAR ABBY: My 92-year-old mother lives alone, still drives and manages by herself with a feral cat she took in. She’s dealing with heart failure, but doing well on her meds. I am 70, an only child, married, retired and live six hours away.
We go to see her four times a year and stay for a week in our RV. We talk on the phone once a week and email a couple times in between phone calls.
Mom says she’s staying in her house as long as she is able. She has nice neighbors who will do anything for her, plus a lawn/snow service. We have told her she’s welcome to come live with us, but she loves her independence and has the cat to take care of.
She goes to her church group, senior citizens group and gets her nails done every three weeks. She’s busier than I am socially. But I feel consumed by guilt that she’s so far away and afraid that each visit may be our last.
My husband says he isn’t moving, and he has his own activities and health issues. He doesn’t want to stay with Mom more than a week because we end up watching QVC with her all afternoon. When we left last week, she said, “My friends told me I hardly ever see you, and I hope you can come more often.”