DunnRite Transitions

Ms. Dunn met with my mother once a week for about 4 hours each time. They worked together a total of 9 times in May, June and July 2014. She helped my mom sort and make decisions about her possessions. I had helped my mom with this process several years ago when she moved from Washington state to Tennessee. She had to downsize from 1800 sq ft with a garage/shop and storage room to 1400 sq ft. It was VERY difficult for both of us and strained the relationship. My mother was (and still is) very attached to her things and had accumulated a huge amount of stuff. I knew I did not want to be the one working one-on-one with her on this even bigger downsizing. It would have caused too much stress, frustration and potential hurt feelings for both of us. I would have to nag, she would get mad and almost every decision would be tense and/or tearful depending on who "won". The basic issue was that mom didn't want to go to assisted living and didn't want to get rid of any of her things. Ms. Dunn was able to be a neutral person who didn't get caught up in all the emotion. She was always respectful and kind with mom but was also the consistent voice of reality and reason. She listened to mom's stories about certain items and my mother enjoyed having an interested "ear" while she made these tough choices. Linda had to be firm on many occasions because mom wanted to keep way too much. She had a HUGE collection of fabrics and quilting books and magazines; way more than she could ever use, but she insisted on keeping almost all of it. It was a huge challenge to get her to agree to letting much of it be included in her upcoming estate sale. Linda kept reinforcing the idea that the fabric could still become a beautiful quilt that someone else would enjoy and perhaps hand down to her family. She used this same tactic with many of mom's huge collection of knick knacks and numerous bins of holiday decorations. She would tell mom that she had enjoyed _______ for many years now and would always have the memories but it was time to let it go or pass it on for someone else's enjoyment. She was very patient and I appreciated that. (I was often at the house doing other things while Linda and my mom were working together so I overheard the conversation. ) Linda also helped on moving day getting mom settled into her new home. She is a hard worker and not afraid to lift heavy boxes and move furniture. She also did packing and even cleaned the refrigerator which I thought above and beyond the call of duty. As an example of her kind nature, she made a beautiful notebook for mom of quilts taken from the pages of numerous magazines that mom had put post-it tabs on. Mom said she had to have all the magazines because of the quilts she marked. Linda took the stack home and came back the next week with the notebook nicely arranged and each page in a plastic sleeve. As if that wasn't enough, she made an arrangement of some of mom's dried flowers that she pressed into the front clear plastic pocket of the notebook. It was a lovely, thoughtful gesture that she did on her own time. Let me finish by saying I highly recommend Linda Dunn and DunnRite Transitions for your senior moving needs! She is well informed of senior services in the greater Knoxville and Loudon county area and has lots of good ideas - like the quilt notebook - to share. She helped make this big transition in my mother's life much easier and more pleasant for both of us.