Level 6 Unit 2 Part 3 Dialogue: Taking Care of the Elderly
I’m sorry to hear about your father.
I hope he died peacefully.
Emm. He knew it was coming and he had a good life.
He’d been sick for about a year.
Luckily, there wasn’t much pain.
So how is your mother?
She isn’t taking it well.
Even though she knew it was coming, she has a hard time without him.
She says the house seems so empty, and she feels useless.
I can imagine. Does she have many friends?
She has a few but she’s never been very social.
Maybe she’ll get out a bit more now, but I don’t think that’s very likely.
She’s also beginning to lose her memory.
Oh, that’s too bad.
My mom is losing her memory too.
Sometime she doesn’t know who I am.
She mixed me up with my sister.
Does she live by herself?
She did until about a year ago.
Then we had her come and stay with us.
How is that working out?
It was okay at first, but now with her memory problems, it isn’t working.
We are thinking about putting her into a senior living community.
It’s expensive but it can provide her with the support she needs.
We may have to do that too.
My husband and my mother don’t get along at all.
He can’t relax when she’s around.
When I mentioned it to him, he said he would consider it, but only if it were for a very short time.
Well, I’m sorry you have to deal with it.
It doesn’t seem like there are any good choices.
Emm, I’m afraid that’s right.
We are getting older too.
This is another reminder of our mortality.
We are no longer children, so now it’s our turn to take care of our parents.
The way I see it is a reminder for us to enjoy life while we can.
If you like, I can send you information about some senior communities.
Please do. We need to start making plans.
There are waiting lists to get into some of them, so you shouldn’t wait to apply.
