Chapter 8 - THE DECISION THAT COST EVERYONE SOMETHING
Dad asked to leave the house.
Not permanently.
At first, he wanted two weeks at an assisted-living respite apartment while the insurance issue was investigated.
Mom refused.
“It’s my house too.”
Dad looked at her.
“I didn’t say you had to leave.”
She went silent.
That afternoon, I helped him pack.
Chelsea accused me of breaking up their marriage.
Colleen told her to stop.
Dad moved into a furnished one-bedroom unit in Worthington with medication support, meals, and transportation included.
He hated the food.
He complained about the mattress.
He also slept through the night for the first time in months.
The decision cost him almost $5,000 for the first month because the insurer would not authorize reimbursement until the review concluded.
I offered to pay.
He refused.
“No more family money fixing family problems.”
That sounded new.
Maybe all of us were learning.
The house became Mom’s responsibility.
So did her bills.
Without Dad’s pension deposit covering household expenses and without the care reimbursement, she could no longer send money to Chelsea.
Chelsea listed her house for sale.
Mason blamed everyone.
At dinner one evening, he asked why Grandma Lucy was “taking Grandpa away.”
I corrected him.
“I’m Aunt Lucy.”
He shrugged.
“Grandma said you’re acting like you own him.”
Even children were being handed versions.
I did not argue with an eight-year-old.
I said, “Grandpa decided where he wanted to stay.”
That night, Chelsea called.
“You know what Mom told me?”
I waited.
“She says Dad can’t legally make decisions anymore.”
“That’s false.”
“She says she has medical power of attorney.”
My stomach tightened.
Dad had signed a health-care power of attorney years earlier.
I had always assumed Mom was first agent.
Colleen’s storage box contained a copy.
I opened it.
Margaret Bennett was not the current agent.
Her name had been crossed out eighteen months earlier.
The replacement was me.
I had never seen the amended document.
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Dad had signed it after a hospital stay.
Someone had made sure I never received a copy.
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