In February 2018, my family vacationed with my widowed mom on a fabulous Caribbean cruise. We had a wonderful time, but it quickly became evident that it was no longer possible for mom to be left alone for long periods, let alone continue to live by herself in the city where she had raised my sister and me since birth. In the coming weeks, we discussed and planned the transition of listing mom’s condo for sale and moving her in with my family, 5 hours away from her home. It was laborious to clean out her condo and purge so many items that held her life’s memories in the period of 2 weekends.
We suspected that mom was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s dementia. Mom and I met with a neurologist a few weeks later, who would confirm this to be the case after hours of testing, brain scans, and meetings. Mom was not yet ready to transition to living in an assisted living facility where she detested the sight of being around so many “old people.” After a few conversations with my sister, Our family decided that it would be best if Mom came to live with my family, and I would arrange to get her all the new services and programs she would need.
It was a stressful time, she adapted pretty well to the new situation, but she was giving up her independence. She didn’t appreciate my nagging her to take her medication or hurrying her to prepare for her programs. Her dependence on my family and me grew, and her realization that she could no longer do things most of us take for granted, such as the drive to the auto repair, increased her level of sadness and frustration. She had left behind her good friends, her routine, and most importantly, her independence. Thankfully my Dad, who managed their finances, left mom relatively set up so that his family could take care of her in the future.
As Mom’s mental capacity and memory declined, financial matters became more of a trigger issue. My sister, who lives in a different country, became suspicious that I was stealing from Mom. I believe the stress of being so far away and not involved in mom’s day-to-day care resulted in her directing her anger and frustration toward me and questioning every decision I would make regarding mom’s care. Eventually, my sister got her lawyer involved, and the court decided that a doctor would give a psychological exam to mom to see if she had the mental capacity to handle her affairs. Sadly, the physician agreed that she lacked this level of executive function. Things quickly devolved between my sister and me to the point where things became untenable.
This situation I am describing is hardly unique, mainly when a loved one develops mental health or memory issues.
My sister’s destructive behavior and actions were based on fear. The fear of the unknown was what this disease would do to my mom. Would she recognize us? How long would she live? How would her abilities deteriorate? So many questions and not a lot of answers. So the question I have been thinking about is how Bitcoin fixes this. My sister and I had a tenuous relationship for many years before my mom’s illness, but we barely spoke in the last few years unless necessary. My single sister worries about her future inheritance and ability to care for herself if ever she develops a similar disease which we are still not certain could be hereditary.
My grandmother was also diagnosed with dementia which lasted over ten years. If mom’s savings were partially in bitcoin, we wouldn’t have to worry about paying for her care in the future despite the risk of increasing inflation and rising costs. I know I cannot control what happens in the future, and I will not allow fiat money to hold me down and cause unnecessary panic. When mom eventually passes whatever remains of her estate, my sister and I will be equally passed down. My portion of that money will go directly into Bitcoin to hopefully fund my family’s retirement and future health needs.
