‘My parents aremy top priority’

Zhou Yifan, 31, an only child and a native of Jiangsu province in East China, works in Beijing. Her parents live in Yancheng, Jiangsu.

My parents had me at a young age. Although I am turning 30, my mother is 54 and my father is 56.

Maybe because they are comparatively young, I did not think seriously about their senior care until last year.

Last year, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. She had six children, and they all took turns caring for her. Even so, they were all exhausted when she passed away earlier this year.

My mother is a doctor, and she was withmy grandma till the last minute of her life.

I could not stop wondering what I would do if that situation happened to me. As an only child, how would I handle it?

It was the first time I had thought deeply about my parents’ senior care. They are in good health and can take care of themselves, but if they fall ill or one of them passes away, it will be a big challenge for me.

I don’t trust caregivers, which means time would be my main concern.

I plan to ask them to move to Beijing to live near me here, or in any other place I settle in the future. I’m confident I could provide a good life for them. Both my parents are working and have reliable insurance policies, so money is not a problem.

I plan to buy them an apartment.

It would be unacceptable to ask them to live in a nursing home. I have visited and inspected many nursing homes in Beijing, and I could not send my parents to one.

I come from a traditional family, and I saw how my parents, aunts and uncles treated my grandparents. I want to maintain that tradition.

I once joked tomy mother that she and her siblings can stay inmy house together when they get older.

I never struggle with possible conflicts between my future andmy parents’ future— their senior care plans.

My parents aremy top priority, and if I have to quit my job to take care of them, I will.