James Richard Cornell cares for his mother with vascular dementia and built a home in his backyard for her.Michael CornellJames Richard Cornell, a 63-year-old caregiver, built a house for his mom on his property.Cornell's mother, 87, suffers from vascular dementia, requiring 24/7 care and assistance.Cornell manages his mother's finances and caregiving, avoiding costly nursing home expenses.This interview is based on a conversation with James Richard Cornell, 63, who has been caring for his 87-year-old mom with dementia for over a decade. Cornell built a house on his property for his mom, which has helped them avoid nursing home costs. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.My mom is a pleasure to take care of. She doesn't give you any crap. She does what she needs to do.I've worked in the trades my whole life. I started my first few years doing oil burner service. Then, I got into doing aluminum siding, but I wasn't really happy with myself because I didn't finish school.I went to school to learn about commercial jets and found jobs working on their interiors and mechanics. For 25 years, I've worked across multiple fleet types, and I now do maintenance control full-time. I do want to retire eventually, and I think I will around 67. Are you paying for your own or your loved one's long-term care? Do you have thoughts to share about long-term care in the US? To share your story with a reporter, please fill out this quick form. My parents separated when I was around 6. My dad was in the military, and my mother wasn't working for quite some time. After they separated, she raised us, playing both the mother and father roles.After a while, she worked as a school bus driver for nearly 30 years, which allowed her to raise three kids with few problems.My mom has dealt with some health issues.There have always been some heart issues in the family. My mother had a heart attack 20 years ago, but it was a milder one. I spent about two weeks with her until she recovered from that. Her brother died of a massive heart attack. I've avoided heart issues, but I've dealt with inflammation and other side effects from a Lyme disease diagnosis I had much earlier in life.James Cornell has cared for his mother for over a decade.James CornellMy mother also has had a knee replacement and a spinal fusion, and I was with her during those. I had a friend who was a physician and taught me a lot about medicine, so I developed a fairly good understanding of the medical field and how to care for people. I've always been told I've been pretty good at being a caregiver.My mother was living in Florida, and as she got older, she would always say, "Let me know when you're ready for me." It was clear her time to take care of the house she had was getting shorter. About 11 years ago, she called me up, and within weeks, my brother packed her up, and we sold the house. She's been with me ever since.I had a room for her in the house, and she was able to take care of herself and go to the store. She wanted the security of somebody because she hadn't remarried. After a little while, she really wanted her own place and was emphatic about a tiny home after watching some TV shows about them.I built her a house on my property.After almost a year of trying to get around the logistics of actually putting a tiny home on the property, though, I couldn't logistically get it all figured out. She also didn't realize that the tiny home would be 200 square feet smaller than the room she was in.Instead, I ended up building her a house in front of my yard. This was between 2013 and 2014. I used my experience in remodeling kitchens and bathrooms, as well as foundation work, to build it. I got a permit from the city and built the home step by step.The home Cornell built is about 1,000 square feet.James CornellI got the property all marked up, then got it cleared for the foundation. Once that was done and approved, I got plumbing set up. I hired a few other people to put in the final slabs and wire it. I did the siding and flooring. It took roughly two years, and I fixed anything that was messed up or failed inspections. I got approval to put in the insulation, found someone to put up sheetrock, and put on the finishing touches. I also built a bay window for her.My mom had the money for it, and I put in some of my own. It cost about $110,000 in total, for which she paid 90%, and it measures 1,000 square feet. I didn't worry about delays because I accounted for those. If it took two months to do something, I really didn't care, and it actually worked out a lot better.When I walk out my front door, I can look to the right, and she's right there. She's just 30 feet off the corner of my house.The home Cornell built has a full kitchen.James CornellMy mom's health has declined a lot since she moved in.Her vision started to worsen, and she was unable to see large semi-trucks in the middle of the road. The lights were too much, so we
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