Elder-caregivers

I am very grateful that I and my siblings were spared from this. My father died in 1973, and mom in 1999 at age 82 after a brief illness. But so many our age have elderly parents who need care and essentially refuse to do what they should.

I can't offer you any real advice. I wish I could. I can say that I think a lot about how I might manage my life down the road. Right now I'm 69 and in excellent health. My only son is in a PhD program on the east coast, and when he's done with that and hopefully has a job that will last the rest of his working life, I may well relocate to be much closer to him. I will also be happy to move into independent/assisted living what that seems to be a good idea.

All of these stories about aging parents are bad enough, but there are a lot of us in this next generation who either never married or never had kids, and I worry a lot about what will happen to them as they age. My son is not married, and I don't expect he ever will. He seems content to be single and immersed in his world of physics. But down the road I hope to talk to him about his ultimate plans for the end of his life.

These are conversations that need to take place.