Mom lived on her own in an apartment for 20 years after Dad died. Then her
eyesight started to fail. At that point, my children were still small and we just
didn't have the room to take her in. Besides, she wanted to stay in Hyde Park
where she'd lived her entire life.

The biggest problem was that she couldn't see well enough any more to write
out checks. Her bills weren't getting paid. She didn't tell anyone, and we didn't
know how serious it was until we got notification that her gas would be shut off
for nonpayment. At that point, she finally agreed to have a volunteer from the
Boston Money Management Program come in.

What a godsend Bob was! Because of his help as a bill payer, Mom was able
to live independently for a good year and a half more than we could have managed.
But it wasn't just that. Bob would call or stop by to check on her much more
often than the once a month required. And when it was clear that she had to move
to assisted living, he helped collect all the documents necessary so that she could
make a good choice about where to go.

Even though Mom is no longer in the program, Bob still comes by, bringing her
news about the old neighborhood and those hard candies she likes.