I'm not either. Mama is losing...

No one's ever ready, UV.

With my dad the deterioration was more physical than mental. All his life he'd been an avid outdoorsman; skiing, hunting, playing tennis, horseback riding, et al. He lived to be outdoors. It killed him to be stuck in a body that could now barely manage to shuffle across the house. In the end he gave up--stopped eating and starved himself to death.

When you see your mom or dad slide down away from you, away from the light, it's a special kind of terror. They were always there for you, always strong, knew what to do, you always secretly believed they could fix any situation.

But there's no fix for this. There's nothing you can do to stop it or spare them from making the journey.

I found this was when I needed help. No way I could handle all this on my own. Most of my immediate family was of limited usefulness so I relied on my friends and my wife, who stood with me and held me up when I needed it, and even when I didn't.

My heart goes out to you. You'll probably find yourself, in blacker moments, praying for an aneurism or some fast-acting, life-ending event to occur, you'll pray let it take your dad quickly, peacefully. Know you're normal and you're not alone. All of us facing a terminal parent or loved one have that thought.

You're not alone.

Oh, sorry to hear that, Vwomack.

Thanks, Ken.

UltraViolet,

We are never ready. I went thru this with Ma. If it is Alzheimer's I can recommend a great book. It's called the "48 hour day". It did me a lot of good.

Best wishes.....

Thanks RobertD. I will check that out. He's doing a bit better now that it's been over two months since Mom died, but he's still super-forgetful.

Anytime Ultraviolet,

I was having a hardtime at first and reading the book helped me put things in perspective. If you have any questions relating to any of this or just want to vent about it just holler (it does get frustrating)