I Came Home From Qatar and Found My Mother Locked in a Room—Then I Lifted Her Mattress and Found an Insurance File in My Name Dated Two Days in the Future

Now I understand something:

Whenever one person has complete control over money, communication and access to a dependent adult, redundancy matters.

Not because every caregiver is abusive.

Because good systems should not require anyone to be flawless.

Rose and I eventually talked about nursing homes too.

I had felt guilty because Mark originally said:

“Don’t put her in one.”

As though professional residential care automatically meant abandonment.