“We’ve always done a lot together,” said Connie.

She, her husband Ron and their family had spent a busy and productive life together. Ron was the president of a school bus company for more than 25 years before he and Connie spent the next 16 years wintering in Arizona.

“We’d done as much with him as we could until he just got too tired,” Connie said. Then, Ron lived in the Pearls of Life® memory care neighborhood at Autumn Glen Senior Living (Autumn Glen), a community managed by The Goodman Group.

Ron chose this community because it felt like home to him.

The Beginning Signs of Memory Loss

It was clear that Ron was living with some variation of memory loss when he began to fall down the stairs and get confused on a regular basis. When it reached the point where he didn’t remember who Connie was, she knew something had to be done.

“It’s a whole different life because we’d been married 58 years,” she said, “and just like that, it was taken away.” At that point, Connie knew she’d have to be there for Ron, and that meant becoming his caregiver.

Connie was one of millions of family caregivers navigating the challenges of dementia care. In one year, dementia caregivers provided an estimated 19.2 billion hours of unpaid care, valued at more than $413 billion dollars.

Finding Help for Ron

“We decided we needed to do what was best for my dad and my mom because she wasn’t having much of a life either, and that wasn’t fair for her to be the total caregiver,” says Tammy, Ron and Connie’s daughter.

Like many families, they faced a decision that feels overwhelming.

Nearly 70% of dementia caregivers report that coordinating care is stressful, and finding the right memory care community needs balancing quality of care with the emotional needs of everyone involved.

Thankfully, Ron made it easier for everyone. After indicating to Connie that he knew he needed a memory care community, they toured Autumn Glen as a family and Ron decided that was home for him.

“Right from the beginning, it was a very good fit,” Tammy said. “You can just tell that he liked it here and he was comfortable. He knew all the aides, and I’m sure they knew him because he’s quite the jokester.”

Ron’s Home at Autumn Glen

Not only did Ron feel comfortable with the staff and fellow residents, but he was also able to thrive in the structured schedule. 

Between games, meals, and resident activities, Ron had plenty to do and plenty of people to interact with. “That, for him, was huge,” Tammy said.

“And he was back to being dad, we were the kids, mom was the wife, and we turned all the caregiving over to Autumn Glen. If you said Autumn Glen, he knew where he was. That was home for him,” she said.

For families like Ron and Connie's, finding the right memory care community meant everyone could focus on what mattered most. Connie regained her role as Ron's wife rather than his sole caregiver. Tammy and her siblings got their dad back. And Ron found a place where he felt comfortable, engaged and at home.