Expert Column
Margit Novack 
Senior Moving Specialist
Margit Novack is a pioneer in the rapidly expanding industry of Senior Move Management...read more
Articles In This Column
- Funeral Planning: Having the Talk with Your Loved One
- How to Alleviate the Stress of Moving for Older Adults
- Geriatric Fiblets: The Ethics of White Lies
- A Tale of Hoarding: Honor Thy Father & Mother
- When Things Can't be Mended
- A Life that Matters
- Helping Parents Move Upwind
- Reunions, Reminiscence & Reflection: Stories to Tell
- Hoarding Solutions
- Home Buyers Beware: A Cautionary Tale
- Moving Made Simple: How to Create a Stress-Free Move Day
- RIGHTsizing Your Life
- The Downsizing Cover-up
- Moving a Relative with Memory Loss
- Helping Mom and Dad Move: Practical Advice for Adult Children
- Downsizing: 6 Months & Counting
Senior Moving Solutions
Funeral Planning: Having the Talk with Your Loved One
Funeral planning isn't an easy thing to talk about for most people, and certainly not with the people you love. After all, imagine planning your funeral. But sooner or later, everyone should have "the talk." Thinking about the talk is always the hardest part. The subject matter changes over time depending on the people involved; it may involve talking to your kids about sex, explaining death to a child, or telling your kids (or your parents) that you have...Read entire article »
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How to Alleviate the Stress of Moving for Older Adults
“There are certain experiences—childbirth is one; moving is another—that nature and time definitely draw a curtain on, so you forget in between times how painful they are.” Katherine Graham, famed publisher of the Washington Post, wrote this famous quote in her Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Personal History. Most people believe that the joy of having children makes the pain of childbirth worthwhile, just as most seniors who relocate are happy with the outcome as well. Moving allows these seniors to...Read entire article »
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Geriatric Fiblets: The Ethics of White Lies
The term “geriatric fiblet” was coined at the 2000 World Alzheimer’s Congress as “necessary white lies to redirect loved ones or discourage them from detrimental behavior.” I have found the concept useful in analyzing my own actions as a professional senior move manager working with older adults. The senior move management industry is guided by a code of ethics that defines the values and principles of behavior for the profession. Developed in 2002 by the National Association of Senior...Read entire article »
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A Tale of Hoarding: Honor Thy Father & Mother
Several months ago, I met with a hoarder; I’ll call him Dr. F. An eighty-nine-year-old retired physician, he lives alone in a five-bedroom house, in which every room is literally filled with “stuff.” His kitchen has an eighteen-inch aisle to walk through; all other space is covered in piles that stand six feet high. He has no access to his sink or stove and receives home-delivered meals. None of the bedrooms in the house can be walked into, because...Read entire article »
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When Things Can't be Mended
One of the most difficult aspects of packing is handling items that are fragile and have been previously repaired. These items are especially vulnerable to repeat damage, either at the point of prior repair or at another section. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, these items break. I’ve thought about this issue recently: how some clients are especially fragile, like items that have been previously repaired, and sometimes the stress of moving pushes them to the breaking point....Read entire article »
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