Compounding grief is that patients who have reached an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s often lose awareness of recent experiences and surroundings, and may even lose recognition of their caregiver and other loved ones. Because of this, patient will probably be confused by move and unaware of suffering of child or spouse responsible for placing them in assisted living. Like I did, people begin to cry at times. Depression and anxiety, caused by guilt, sometimes become acute.

But there are a number of things that one can do to diminish feelings of guilt. In my case, besides visiting my mother every day, I always make sure that she has fresh flowers in her room. When she was able to, she spent a lot of time in her garden, and flowers help her to experience a bit of garden all time.

On Sundays, I spend day with my mother in my home, picking her up early in morning and taking her back to her assisted living facility in evening. I try never to miss a week.

Beyond that, it helps to remind oneself of advantages that an assisted living facility affords. Working in community where my mother resides provides me with some added insight into those advantages, for which I am grateful. Besides obvious – physical aspect of care – there is always-important social aspect of continuing care communities. My mother, even before entering facility, was very antisocial, and I even made a friendly bet with staff that they would not be able to get her out of her room. For three and a half years I was winning that bet, but six months ago, after much persistence on staff’s part, they finally got her to participate in events.

One day recently, while I was with my mother, she took out a quarter from a drawer in her room. Though Parkinson’s makes it difficult for her to speak, she managed to say, “cards” – my mother had won quarter playing cards. She never used to play cards.

Despite moments like these, which remind me of all that an assisted living facility offers that I alone could not, guilt and grief never entirely go away. But I know my decision was right one, and I know that I am not alone in feeling involuntary pangs of guilt. My hope is that others in my position share these same realizations.

Don’t forget to take into account shipping and handling costs. Many stores will give free shipping over a certain amount, so you may wish to consolidate your gift shopping to take advantage of this. By buying out of state, you are saving sales taxes, so this can offset cost of shipping.

Don’t forget to order in advance so that there is adequate delivery time and to avoid having to pay for expensive over-night shipping. You can have gift sent directly to recipient if you are not able to deliver it in person. Don’t forget to mention this when you order, so that they do not send invoice or credit card slip to recipient.

Most online stores will be happy to gift wrap your gift for you, to save you time and effort. If this is not listed as a service, just ask. Most gift stores will always be happy to go extra mile for you.

Look for a secure website when purchasing online. Once you have chosen your goods and you have chosen to “check out” you should be taken to a secure website. You can tell that site is secure as URL will start with “https” instead of “http”. This means that your credit card information is safe and will not be compromised. If you are still not convinced, many online gift stores will let you submit your order online and then will call you to obtain your credit card details or allow you to send them by fax.

Once you have placed your order, it is preferable to print out a record of order, of if this is not possible then save information on your computer in a folder labeled "shopping". This will help you follow up if your order does not arrive and you need to follow up with store.

Hopefully I have convinced you of merits of online gift shopping and now all that remains is to wish you a Happy and Safe Shopping Experience.