No Ordinary Move: Relocating Your Aging Parents

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 over busy 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. 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.

Barbara Z. Perman, Ph.D., is founder and President of Moving Mentor, Inc., a company that provides moving management consulting and organizing services. Dr. Perman specializes in helping seniors and families through the arduous tasks related to downsizing and relocating. As educator, speaker, coach, family consultant, professional organizer and author, she has written and developed books and products that support the moving process from beginning to end. Barbara holds a Masters degree from Oxford University and a Doctorate in Psychology from Edinburgh University in Scotland. Jim Ballard is an established author of a number of books about managing change and transforming the people side of business. In addition to his own titles published by Random House, John Wiley and Beyond Words, Ballard has co-authored a number of books with best-selling author Ken Blanchard, published by Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill, Jossey-Bass and Harper-Collins. Both authors are experienced keynote speakers, and both design and facilitate seminars and workshops. Barbara's company Moving Mentor, Inc. is well-known for its dedication to helping relocate seniors. She maintains an active website and is in demand as a presenter to many different groups including realtors, estate attorneys, marketing directors of retirement communities, and councils on aging.