When an elderly couple decided they couldn’t live independently, they reached out to their only son. However, instead of sending them to a nursing home, their son decided to put them... in his basement!
When the couple got to know about it, they tried to come up with some rescue plan. At first, it seemed like there was no way to escape that terrible scenario. Luckily, life had something in store for them, and soon karma would hit back the unthankful kid.
Schon Miller and His Parents
Schon Miller’s parents – Bonnie and George Miller were turning very old, and he knew that soon, he would have to think of something.
He knew that they wouldn’t be able to live independently, and time was running at a rapid pace. Schon came up with the decision that was about to shock the whole world.
Bonnie Had A Fall
Bonnie and George used to live independently in a separate home but things soon started taking a turn for worse. Bonnie’s legs were growing weaker with each passing day and she was finding it very hard to even stand up.
One day, Bonnie had a terrible fall that almost broke her leg! This incident forced her to take the support of a wheelchair.
George’s Mental Condition
Not only Bonnie but her husband George was facing a different set of issues. They both were 87-year-old and their age had finally started taking a toll on them.
George was becoming forgetful as his mind has started to slip. It was a major red flag for Schon who could sense that he needed to do something about it.
Couldn’t Live Independently
The elderly couple earlier used to live independently, as we mentioned earlier as well. Both of them were content with their respective lives but then, certain unavoidable circumstances made their lives difficult.
Almost all of them were related to their old age and all the issues that come with it. Bonnie and George soon realized that they won’t be able to live that way much longer.
Search
Schon knew that he had to do something on an urgent basis. His own home didn’t have enough space to accommodate both of them. He then started looking for appropriate nursing homes in his vicinity.
Schon Miller’s search bore no fruit as almost all the good nursing homes that he found were very expensive. His mind was crawling with some radical ideas that would make both of his parents cry at the end.
Mother-in-law Suite
After realizing that shifting his parents in a nursing home wasn’t a feasible option, Schon soon started looking for a finished mother-in-law suite.
These suites are private living spaces for parents that are usually attached to or located on the same lot as their child’s house. The idea is to keep your ageing family members close to you.
No Luck. Hard Luck.
Even after trying very hard to find a nice mother-in-law suite, Schon found no success. He tried searching on every website and called up almost every friend of his.
He even called multiple brokers to find an appropriate suite for his parents but ultimately, he found nothing. As his search came to an end, his parents’ condition started getting worse.
What To Do
It was dawning on Schon every day that something had to be done. His parents weren’t growing any younger and Schon had already scavenged every possible option there was.
Even though there didn’t seem to be any immediate solution, Schon was brainstorming with all his might. That time wasn’t far when he would finally boil down to a very radical solution.
A Brilliant Plan
Since Schon couldn’t find any good mother-in-law suite or a nursing home, it was now time to think of something else. Schon and his wife Jeanie used to sit down every day to brainstorm a solution.
Finally, one fine evening, they came up with a brilliant plan! This brilliant plan had the potential of blowing Bonnie and George’s minds! As Schon was going to make his parents live in his rotten basement. Wait, what?
Next Big Project
The brilliant plan that they came up with was to build one of those custom mini-homes by themselves in their current house. Schon and Jeanie decided to remodel their basement and transform it into something else altogether!
They blew a hole in the basement and got rid of their recreational items – pool table, instruments, and even their karaoke area.
Can't Live
Later on, Schon revealed in an interview “We had been talking about it with mum for a while because we knew they were leaning on each other with one good body and one good mind.
One can’t live alone without the other and we didn’t want either one to end up in a nursing home.”
Tour
The eventful day finally came when Schon decided to give both of his parents a tour of their new home.
On March 13, Bonnie and George arrived at Schon’s place and were pretty excited to see what their son had in store for them. They had no idea that it would break them down.
Bonnie’s Exclamation
Among both of them, Bonnie was first to see the inside of the newly revamped basement. Schon wheeled her in as she was too weak to stand on her legs.
As soon as she got to see what her son had pulled off, she couldn’t help but exclaim with joy “Oh my God!” upon entering the home. She was completely overwhelmed by the amazing gesture shown by her son.
She Broke Into Tears
It didn’t take long for Bonnie to break down into tears. She claimed that the interiors were very ‘pretty’ and started crying.
At this moment, Schon realized that all the efforts and funds that were invested in remodelling the basement had finally paid off! But how did George react?
George’s Reaction
George had a similar reaction but he was less expressive, as our old patriarchs generally go. But it was quite evident that he was clearly moved by Schon and Jeanie’s initiative.
He couldn’t agree more with his wife as he kept saying “Yes, indeed!” as Bonnie kept gushing over the gorgeous custom mini home.
Customizations
Jeanie was recording the whole instance and the video that surfaced later showed us some more details about this custom mini home. Clearly, Schon had paid a lot of attention to ensuring the safety of the elderly couple.
There were bars on either end of the toilet so they have something to hold on to. He also installed bars and a seat in the shower plus a rubber mat on the floor so they don’t slip.
Well Thought Of
What made this initiative by Schon and Jeanie even more admirable is the fact that it wasn’t your regular basement remodelling.
It wasn’t just beautiful to look at but its design was clearly well thought of. It was pretty evident that a lot of brainstorming was done while designing this mini home.
A Proper Home
At first, you must have thought that how cruel one can be to put his own parents in the basement, right? Certainly, it wasn’t the case as the video showed a proper living room, a TV, a few paintings hanging from the walls, and the whole furniture.
These elements really gave the basement the aspect of any other home.
Also Kitchen
Apart from the living space, Schon and Jeanie also managed to squeeze in a kitchen and a bathroom for the old couple’s needs.
Not only this but Schon also installed handlers for them to have extra support as they walk around. This shows how much he cared for the well-being of his old parents.
They Were Absolutely Delighted
Throughout the video, Bonnie can be seen exclaiming with joy. Towards the end of the footage, it becomes very clear that Bonnie and George were delighted by what their son and daughter-in-law had done for them.
They kept laughing and giggling. Bonnie also had an emotional moment as can be seen in the video.
Don’t Need To Be Your Parents
Schon did a lot for his old parents and that is exactly how it should be in every case. In fact, they don’t necessarily have to be your parents because almost every ageing person needs some kind of help.
If you can help any ageing person in any way possible, we suggest you absolutely do so.
Repo Man Jim Ford
Take the case of Repo man Jim Ford for instance. If you don’t know, a repo man is a person employed to repossess goods for which a purchaser has defaulted on payment.
Jim Ford had a rather tough job but he had no idea that what fate had in store for him.
Not Your Regular Thanksgiving Day
The job at hand on that Thanksgiving day was to land at the home of Pat and Stan Kipping to repossess their car. And that is exactly what Jim Ford did.
He arrived at their place to cover up for a debt that they couldn’t manage to pay back. But when he saw them and heard their story, he didn’t have the heart to do it.
Didn’t Have The Heart
The elderly couple explained the reason why they couldn’t pay back the debt and that broke Jim Ford’s heart.
As it turned out, the debt that they accumulated was to pay for their medical expenses. The elderly couple was very nice to him.
20 Years
Jim Ford has been in the business for the last 20 years. He has recovered all sorts of stuff from all kinds of people.
But 20 years in the business hadn’t hardened Ford’s heart enough to let him be indifferent to this couple that was so nice to him.
Crowdfunding Campaign
Jim Ford decided to do something about it and without giving it much thought, he launched a crowdfunding campaign on social media.
He knew that people would be willing to help the elderly couple and they did exactly that! It was now time to break the good news to the lovely couple.
The Good News
Three days later, Jim Ford visited the couple again but this time around, his intentions were very different. He had managed to accumulate all the money and broke the good news to the elderly couple.
It certainly made their day and we are sure that Jim Ford would have gotten the best sleep of his life that night!