Remembering My Mother's Ottawa Homes

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about my mother's fourteen years here in Ottawa, reflecting how each of the three places she had lived provided so well for her needs of the time...

Her first seven years here, she lived alone in a one-bedroom apartment across the street from a shopping mall that she visited daily. She was part of an indoor "walking club"... Her goal: to walk 10,000 steps a day.

When she wasn't at the mall, she enjoyed watching activities on the street from her 8th-floor apartment.

Eventually she had a hard time sorting out her medication, so she moved from her one-bedroom apartment to a bachelor suite in an assisted living residence across the road from one of my favorite parks in the city. 

I imagined her taking walks in the park - but she never did. She did, however, enjoy the extra social activities provided by the residence. 

After three and a half years, she moved into the nursing home very close to our house, where she lived for four years. The people were wonderful there. She often said: This is a good place to be if you need help.

Wherever she lived, she made an effort to be happy - and, after a brief time of adjustment, she always was.