Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I have a solution.

Can’t be doing that when the kids try to move you to a home.

(I had one grandfather die in his home. That left his wife so alone, she ended up in an only folks home for a long stretch, which was mostly good. Other grandparent I knew went downhill sort of fast, possibly because family didn’t quite see it until they did)

In good news, I talked to my dad again yesterday. I've been making more of an effort to communicate since he ended up in the hospital. He's been back home now for about a month. 

After my mom died, I think he got REALLY depressed. I think he'd mentally given up, to be honest. It caused him to spiral, which meant he wasn't taking some of his meds, which meant he gained 40 lbs of water weight in a very short time, and it ended with him in the hospital, then a skilled nursing facility, and now finally back home. 

I think he's in a much better place now, getting his strength back, getting into a routine where he's doing things and socializing... But after being married 50+ years, I don't think he knew how to live without her. 

Yeah I can't even imagine.  Glad to hear he's headed in a better direction.

My folks are 83 and 86 years old.  I try to talk to them a couple times per week and see them once every two weeks if at all possible.  I have no idea how much longer I'll have with them.  The kids will also just drive over and meet up with them or my wife's parents (who are 87 and 85).  It's pretty remarkable we still have all 4 with us.  

Humans are both remarkably resilient, and remarkably frail. That dichotomy makes end of life planning very difficult.

I've watched my mom go through something that I swear to this day I do not want for myself. But...she seems to be happy with it, and I know my dad is. On the one hand, I can't fathom it; on the other, I see it right in front of me.

We will all do the best we can. Planning is good. For many of us, people will have to make tough decisions without knowing how they will turn out. Hopefully we can make those decisions for ourselves, but in many cases people will make them for us. The best we can do is let the other potential decision makers know what we want as well as possible, so that when they make those decisions, they can be confident that they are fulfilling our wishes, whatever those might be.

Life is hard. And beautiful. Existence is an enigma. It always has been, and it always will be.