Growing Old(er)

When my Dad died, he died unexpectedly of a abdominal aerobic aneurism.  He was healthy one day, and three days later he was gone.  It was a shock to us, but looking back, grace-filled.  We never had to make any tough decisions with him.  Dad lived fully at home, and then he simply died. Now my family is dealing with an aging Mom who has health issues.  Mom suffers from diabetes and this impacts her legs, her circulation and then her ability to heal.  After getting a toe infection, and messing around with it for a month, she has finally had a surgery to hopefully increase the circulation in her leg.  But she is weak.  Two weeks ago she fell and broke her wrist in several places.  So she only has one arm and one leg with one shoe on a foot.  Her left arm is useless and her left leg struggles.  She cannot live on her own.  She cannot get up by herself.  She struggles with walking.  So tomorrow a Dr. is going to tell her that she has to go to a swing bed.  I think this is going to be quite the blow to her.  Even though the idea of a nursing home was mentioned weeks ago, I too bulked at that idea.  I dislike nursing homes and I really wanted Mom to stay in her own home as long as possible.  But her own home is no longer safe for her. So as Mom grows older and we as her kids need to make decisions for her, I too grow older. The roles are switched. Children now make huge decisions for a mom who always made decisions for her kids. As a dear 95 year old man said to me, "growing old stinks".  I agree Randall. I agree.