Assisted Living

Vonnie Morrow is the last surviving member of her nuclear family except for her ninety year old mother Elizabeth. Vonnie has assumed full responsibility for the care and well being of this aging and very difficult woman. As the story begins, Vonnie enters the office of a middle-aged psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Koontz. She seeks help with the anxiety attacks that are being triggered by her dealings with her mother. The reader sees Vonnie’s childhood through flashbacks that give us a glimpse of the home she grew up in and her reasons for psychological difficulties now. Dr. Koontz himself is also dealing with the issues of aging and elder care. His father is showing signs of Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. Koontz and his brother must come up with a plan to care for him even though he resists. Dr. Koontz himself is beginning to doubt his professional and personal choices in life. He wonders if a dramatic career and lifestyle change is warranted. Dr. Ed Wallace is Dr. Koontz’s friend and mentor. As Dr. Wallace faces imminent retirement, he is faced with this alone. For all his wealth and social connections, Ed Wallace is a solitary widower and one who has developed some very poor coping mechanisms to deal with loneliness. The strand that holds the story together is Elizabeth, now in nursing home care. Vonnie struggles to overcome the influences of her past in order to function in the present. Doctors Koontz and Wallace seek to help her as does her husband Frank. Each individual must come to terms with the problems of aging for themselves and for those in their families. Aging Americans make up such a significant and growing part of our population. The theme of “Assisted Living” is a timely one. It is one that may strike a chord of truth for those readers who find themselves in the role of caretaker for aging relatives.