"No Ordinary Move - Relocating Your Aging Parents" - A Guide for Boomers

Of 78 million Baby Boomers, one turns 50 every seven seconds. 70% of people over 75 still own their own home. Taken together, these facts spell perplexity for millions of adult children. Increasing numbers of Boomers, themselves aging, with overbusy work lives and college-age children, must interrupt their schedules to move their aging parents out of households they can no longer manage. For most, the  solution might seem simple: put Mom in a home, her stuff in a dumpster, and get back to the treadmill.

Enter NO ORDINARY MOVE;  Relocating Your Aging Parents, a book that helps readers slow down and reconsider this situation, not as a grim crisis but as a rare opportunity. It's the story of Sandy, whose 50-yard dash of a life is further complicated by the realization that her parents can't remain in the home in which she and her brothers grew up. Her father's resistance, her mother's growth in self-assertion, and her brother's transformation from resentment to active participation in the move highlight the triumphs and breakdowns along the way to the final, healing move.

The heart-changing secrets to be learned from such an experience, balanced with the shortcuts and facilitative strategies that make it "no ordinary move," are provided by a character called Moving Mentor, a sort of Yoda of Moving. Her working with the family to manage the mutual influence of inter-generational values, together with excerpts from her website and journal, show readers a way to make participation in their parents' move a turning-point, a chance to renew and reunite. The second part of the book, For Adult Children Only; 101 Ways to Get Your Parents Moving, features lists of hands-on tasks, each with its rationale, arranged under the eight stages of a healthy move. 

Endorsements

Using a warm, compelling story about an aging couple and their busy, conflicted children who must help them move, No Ordinary Move provides generous helpings of wisdom, advice and hope to readers who face similar challenges. At last! a book with real humanity for my generation. No Boomer should be without it.

--Jayne Pearl, free-lance writer/editor, author of Kids and Money

Life is a very special occasion. Making the most of every opportunity is what this book is all about. If only I'd had it when I moved my mother.

--Ken Blanchard, business consultant, author of The One-Minute Manager

This is no ordinary how-to book! In a quick-read story we get expert treatment of the logistics of moving seniors, the critical dynamics in play between Baby Boomer siblings and their GI Generation parents, and a win-win philosophy that makes it all work.

--Martha Lawrence, mystery writer, editor

This book shines light on a very troubling and touchy subject, and offers both practical and emotional tools to manage it. When faced with the dilemma of aging parents, many of us form negative beliefs and limit our options. We often think we have to do everything at once and know all the answers before we begin. This book teaches a saner, gentler approach to facing one of life's biggest transitions. Extremely helpful.

--Cathy Huett, Consulting Partner, The Ken Blanchard Companies

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to promote affordable senior housing.