I got a glimpse of the future today. Mom signed the lease on her new apartment, and Suzanne and I went along. She spent 45 minutes signing papers. There were rules she had to agree to, and waivers that allowed the managers to share her personal information with the government (because it’s all about money), and acknowledgments that she received keys and papers and the little sign that goes on her door.

The little sign is something she puts out every night when she goes to bed, saying something like “Leave me alone, I’m sleeping here.” In the morning when she gets up, she flips the sign over to the side that says, “I’m awake and I’m okay.” If she doesn’t flip the sign by 9:00 am, all hell breaks loose. Or they call her on the phone and ask what’s up. Something like that.

Her building is locked up after 4:30 in the afternoon. Since she’s on the ninth floor, it would be difficult to visit her unless we could get keys of our own. Otherwise we’d have to ask her to come down nine stories and open the door for us. Thank goodness they made electronic keys to the outer doors available to us (at a price, of course). To get one, even I had to sign a paper. I guess I should have read it first, but I was afraid I wouldn’t get a key. I would have signed just about anything.

The apartment itself is cozy, but it seems to be well laid out. Both the living room and bedroom have windows that open out on a spectacular view of the city and the hills beyond it. If you’re going to live on the ninth floor, there’s not much they can offer you other than a view.

We’re moving Mom into the new place this Sunday. When we had the walkthrough today, there were several minor items that hadn’t been finished yet. Mom very properly decided that she couldn’t sign anything else until the drapes had been hung and the carpets had been shampooed and the bad spot on the sink had been repaired. Our handyman Leo promised it would all be done before Sunday. It had better be.