As told to 2026-04-26T11:07:01.290Z This 'as-told-to' essay is based on a conversation with Juli Ford, a 57-year-old real estate agent and certified senior advisor based in Massachusetts. It has been edited for length and clarity. When my children were young, we saw my parents all the time. We lived very close to each other in South Plymouth, Massachusetts, and my parents always helped with the kids. From the time they were born, Wednesdays were Grammy and Grampy Day. My dad got sick in 2005. When we learned in the summer of 2011 that he probably didn't have much time left, we talked about what life would be like after he was gone, including where my mom would live. The family's house fits three generations.  Lucy Lu for Business Insider When he passed in December 2011, my mom was not ready to live with us. At 68, she had never lived on her own. She'd been with my dad since she was 15. Then, in April 2015, a house in Pembroke, Massachusetts , about 30 minutes from South Plymouth, came on the market.…