Nine to Ninety

Every morning after taking a long list of medications, 89-year-old Phyllis Sabatini does her calisthenics and goes on a long walk around the Palm Desert neighborhood where she lives with her husband, daughter, and granddaughter. “Grandmom” may only be 4’ 7,’’ but she still stands tall as the head of a close-knit Italian American family struggling to come to terms with the declining health of their aging parents. Phyllis is facing her last chapter with courage and determination, but her 90-year-old husband Joe seems to have given up; he’s detached and prefers to sleep most of the day.

Phyllis loves her family – she especially relishes the time she spends with her granddaughter, Jacqueline – but she sees how much strain taking care of her and Joe is putting on their family. As she watches her daughter struggle to care for everyone from nine to ninety, Phyllis makes a radical decision to move into assisted living. Phyllis realizes that leaving home is difficult at any age, but she learns that sometimes, the best way to say ‘I love you’ is to say ‘goodbye’.