By Nicolette Asselin

Moe was a very independent thinker who carried on many large professional projects. In his private life, he found the time to accomplish complete renovations or build his own.

No place was good enough, from transforming two condominiums into one prominent gathering place for his family to gutting a small kitchen and turning it into a superb gourmet kitchen. I admired his courage, and since I had my own experience of mountain climbing during my own life, we formed a good pair. We galavanted the world, skied in dream mountains in the winter, and had week-long bicycle adventures on the road, offering enough gourmet stops.

Later in life, he suffered a serious fall that necessitated neurosurgery. For a while, during his recovery, he needed more assistance and supervision. However, he found confinement challenging, and living under the rules of others wasn’t for him. As a firstborn and after his life endeavors, he was not much of a follower. That is what I liked about Moe’s personality. Like me, he was unafraid of thinking outside the box and making changes. We connected in many aspects, but the (this?) most fundamental similarity was our bond.

We soon will learn that the model of an assisted living facility wasn’t designed for him. But let me first describe the subsequent steps we took.

While waiting for the final say from the Mass General Neurology department, we stayed at Mill Hill Senior Facility and Assisted Living, a beautiful new Maplewood facility in West Yarmouth, MA. He found happiness for a short while. The Director, Johanna Lovely, was incredibly gracious. We were waiting to decide on a crucial surgery that would relieve the pressure that had built in his brain and was impairing his walking, 

“Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a condition that happens when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside your skull and presses on your brain. This condition is most likely in people over 65. It’s often treatable and sometimes even reversible. Treating this condition involves surgery to implant a shunt to drain excess fluid from the inside of your skull.” To be continued

This excerpt is from a book that will be out by next summer pre-order your copy