“Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”, blares a television commercial. We sit there and watch this commercial, and although we find the acting kind of comical, it is actually a relatable accident that can happen anytime and anywhere. We’re thinking to ourselves, “We could just move to an assisted living center and we wouldn’t have to worry about that at all. Sure, that may sound easy, but we don’t want to leave the home that we’ve been in practically all our lives. The memories, our things, our privacy, no, we can’t leave!”
Home Is Where The Heart Is
It’s amazing how a television commercial can have us thinking about the rest of our senior lives. It’s true, a fall can be life-threatening and dangerous, especially if no one is around to help out. Leaving our homes is not an option for many of us. Our homes have aged just as we have. There we have had fond memories surround us and are still very much alive. We remember our children growing up in our home, we remember the do-it-yourself projects in the garage. We remember the book club meetings held in the garden in the backyard and we remember our grandchildren coming over to visit us. The countless anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays spent at our home. No, moving to a nursing home is definitely not part of the plan. “Getting up to the second floor is getting harder and harder every day,” we think to ourselves. “My hips hurt and Amy’s knees act up, especially during winter.” We head over to the stairway and look up, pondering for a solution. “Perhaps getting more information about installing a stairlift might do the trick,” we think to ourselves.
A Stairlift and Its Benefits
We do some research about the cost of a stairlift and any prerequisites when having one installed. We find in an estimate that acquiring one costs less than considering a move to a nursing home. “Great! See, it’s better to stay at home. It’ll cost less than moving, and going up and down the second floor will no longer be a challenge for Amy and I.” Stairlifts come in a variety of styles and can fit any shape or size of the staircase. It can be customized to look like it was included when we first purchased the home. A quick read indicates that some even include remote controls for convenience.
“Okay, okay. Let’s not get too excited now,” you say to yourself. One of the most important reasons for even thinking about a stairlift is for safety. With our ailments, we don’t want to fall off the machine. A quick look on a brochure shows that a seatbelt is also included in the seat. It’s amazing how technology today has made convenience safe and affordable.
Independence
Thoughts run through your head about ways to reinvent your home. “We can now get back to repurposing our empty bedrooms upstairs. One bedroom can be used as a sewing room. The other bedroom can be turned into a library. The window in that room has a fantastic view of our garden down below. What a great way to spend time with my grandchildren. I’ll read books to them and we can look over at the garden to see if there are any birds out there during spring. One other room can be used as a game room. Amy and I are avid players of card games. We can have certain days where our friends come over and join us and play card games upstairs.”
“We can get our second floor back again! We don’t have to ignore it as if it never existed. Our home will be functional and safe for us again!” By having a stairlift installed, we keep our independence and privacy. Most importantly, we keep the memories and sentiments with us at home. Our ailments will no longer prevent us from being afraid to use the stairs. We think to ourselves, “If it weren’t for that commercial, we wouldn’t have even thought about the stairlift. We would have just continued to live on the first floor and forget about the empty space above us. We would have continued avoiding using the stairs for fear that an accident may occur.”
Check into a stairlift and see if it is right for you. You might find that a stairlift can give you the very freedom that you require at this time in your life.
