Mum & Alzheimer's - A Fiduciary Success Story

Being a fiduciary can be difficult sometimes. Other times, they can be VERY difficult. Situations come up that have never happened before, and may never happen again. A fiduciary's duty to care for and advocate for the health and well-being of their client is first and foremost.

Frances was born and raised in Belfast, Ireland. Like many in that area, she moved to England as soon as she had the opportunity to where she studied nursing. In the early 60's, she preferred understated classical and jazz music to the cultural and musical revolution happening there. During a musical event, she met Martin whom she would marry in 1967.

That's where her two children Jane and Jon came in. After her divorce, she lived frugally, raising her children in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (U.K.) and earned an economics degree at University. She loved her children. Below, a moment with Jon in Liverpool in the mid-70's.

While studying, she loved taking in the art at the Tate. The University is also where she met her second husband, a Californian named Robert Steven. After graduating with an Economics degree, Frances married Robert and moved out to Placerville, California. Jane and Jon moved in with their father Martin, remaining in Liverpool.

California suited Frances. She preferred riding her bike over driving everywhere. Below, Frances rides her bike in San Francisco in 2009.

Frances divorced in the late 80's, but remained in California for the next 40 years. Frances lived an active and full life. She worked for the State of California in IT quality assurance until she was 72 years old. Her love of music and art never waned.

In 2017, Jane and Jon's Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's/dementia and thus the final chapter of her life began. For many, this is a crushing blow. Frances continued to live in her home with homecare for a year before moving into a memory care facility. The Sacramento area has a healthy eldercare atmosphere. It's loaded with energetic, positive, and in some cases, heroic people who will do everything in their power to insure you continue to live an active life and to live out the rest of it with dignity.

Below, Frances on the day she moved into assisted living, in February of 2020, just before COVID-19 lockdowns began.

When she began her decline, the pandemic hit. Jon found himself at the mercy of travel restrictions and a world unsure of what to do with the unknown. Imagine being on the other side of an ocean knowing your Mum needs you and there's no way for you to get to her.

Jon still lived in the United Kingdom. Nothing can be better expressed than when someone tells you their story in their own words. This is his story in his words (in italics):

I live in the United Kingdom and my mother has lived in Sacramento for the last 40 years.

 As Dementia and Alzheimers took hold of her, I was overwhelmed with the task of ensuring her care needs were met in a country I had very little experience with.

Frankly, I struggled. Apart from the distance, the differences betweeen the two countries left me flailing. Especially banking, health, and social care. It was a huge, big, insurmountable problem. The weight of it took its toll.

Enter John DePiazza and his team at AD Fiduciary. It is a duty of a fiduciary to always put their client's interests first and foremost - to advocate for them and noone else. Jon found them and reached out to them for help.

Jon continues:

The best and finest decision I made was to engage John DePiazza of AD Fiduciary as fiduciary for my mother. His experience and wisdom were absolutely invaluable, and he was able to assist in a range of problems and obstacles that cropped up.

Once Mum moved into memory care, John assisted with the sale of her house, which sold and went through smoothly. This is especially impressive when you consider that this was in 2020, at the height of COVID-19. The pandemic made travel to the US impossible for me.

John DePiazza called on Tiffany Ramirez of the non-profit Artisan Mind to engage with Frances and provide her with the quality of life Jon was seeking for his Mum. Artisan Mind blends art and faith to nurture those living with Alzheimer's, cognitive, and physical challenges.

Tiffany met with Frances regularly integrating artwork, photographs, objects, and even videos to share about those things that Frances loved and brought her joy and happiness.

While Frances looked a fun little dog figurine, she was very pleased with him, saying, "Your bums on show doggie! Look at this boy here. He's first rate!" On another occasion, after Tiffany shared that she had experienced seeing puppies being born over the weekend, they discussed the miracle of life and how instinctual baby animals are. The conversation was both uplifting and cognitively stimulating for Frances.

Jon did make it to visit his Mum in memory care once travel restrictions became a thing of the past. Below, Frances watches Jon play the piano for her.

Jon continues:

Most valuable of all was that John DePiazza enabled my mother's final years to be as dignified and fulfilling as possible.

It always felt like he was on my side, and I always feel thankful that I had John and his team available to me.

I have absolutely no problem in recommending AD Fiduciary.

A life well lived with joy and dignity regardless of Alzheimer's and dementia is possible. We all deserve that. Frances, full of fire, certainly did.

Rare.