Radio Kid
Aug 2026
Mom lived at Tilden for a short time, but I wish I moved her in earlier. Mom lived at a corporate big box assisted living for over 3 years and as she declined she dropped below the minimal functioning point required to survive in corporate big box assisted living. Corporate big box says they have memory care but its really just the same glitz and glamor that’s sold to the children on the assisted living side except with an extra babysitter and more restrictive room accommodations. Corporate big box does not specifically change any processes or services on the memory care side to cater towards keeping the cognitively declining resident as independent as possible for as long as possible. Wade , Tilden’s owner, implements memory care techniques that he has learned from colleagues and from studies of other memory care facilities around the world to maximize what abilities each resident still has left. I removed mom from the corporate big box assisted living when she lost weight at an alarmingly fast rate in a single month. She had lost the mechanics of feeding herself, she wore a lot of her meals if she didn’t simply sleep in front of them. After I moved mom to Tilden, staff was able to get mom back up to her “semi healthy” weight in about 2 weeks. With only 8 residents and a much smaller facility , the staff has time to keep a personalized eye on each resident and is not overwhelmed. Mom regained her strength. Mom had lost the strength to get up from her chair without being lifted when I removed her from corporate big box, but she could once again stand up from a chair on her own in less than a month at Tilden. Eventually , however, moms body just gave out. It wasn’t for lack of staff trying everything they knew. It happened fast, there was simply nothing they could do. The staff was pretty broken up when mom passed even though mom had only been there a few months. The personal bond builds quickly is such a small setting. Mom only lived at Tilden a short time, but I’m glad I moved her there. If you have a parent or loved one with cognitive decline, you would be lucky to get them into Tilden.
