The guide you wished you'd had.

My parents were the kind of people who made you believe that aging didn't have to slow you down. My dad worked until he was 80. He was still kayaking at 82 — hoisting that kayak on top of his car himself. My mom was volunteering, active, and fully independent. They owned their home, drove themselves everywhere, and lived full, rich lives in the town where I grew up.

And then, almost without warning, things started to shift.

When my parents moved closer to me, my dad was 82 and my mom was 78. Her memory had begun to slip — just enough to notice. His thinking was a little slower than it used to be. The move to a new city meant my mom stopped driving. Small things. But the beginning of something bigger. What followed were years I wasn't prepared for. Not because I didn't love them — but because nobody tells you what this actually looks like. Nobody hands you a roadmap. Nobody warns you about the decisions you'll face, the guilt you'll carry, or the moments that will break your heart wide open and fill it back up at the same time. 

I'm Jen. I navigated every stage of my parents' aging journey — from that first move, through assisted living, through hospice, through losing my dad, and through finding the right memory care for my mom. I built Lantern because I needed it and it didn't exist.

This is the guide I wished I'd had.