The time has come to make one of the most important decisions about your mom’s health: to move her into an assisted living facility. And you are probably wondering, is this the right decision? Am I abandoning my responsibility to care for her? Will it work out the way I hope it will? Not to mention wondering how you will help mom deal with her worries and uncertainties, because the decision for assisted living comes with a flood of emotions for you both. It represents a big change in everyone’s life.

Not only are you talking about a change in location, but a reversal in roles, where you become the caretaker for someone who once took care of you. Being in charge of important decisions for mom’s care comes with a heavy emotional toll, and when it comes to something so crucial, you naturally want to get it right. You only want the best for mom, and you hope that your decisions will achieve that. But no matter how right the decision is, it’s normal to feel guilty about being away from her. There are three reasons, though, that you don’t need to feel guilty about choosing assisted living.