[KevinTodd]

This sounds all too familiar, as my brother and I experienced many of the same situations with our dad in his last few years. He was wildly stubborn until the end, and I don't know why we expected any different; since he had been that way all his life. The falls, the close-call hospital stays. The firing of every NA we sent in to help him.

He did finally accept that he could no longer drive after having a thankfully very minor accident where he tapped the vehicle in front of him at a traffic light. It was so embarrassing for him that he simply decided he wouldn't do it anymore.

He was adamant about not leaving his home. He told me that the only way he would ever do that is feet-first, and that is exactly how it went four days after his 98th birthday. He had just seen his entire family for that event, and had eaten well, laughed a lot, and had 17 year-old bourbon before noon.

I'll tell you this: spend as much time with him as you possibly can. Talk to him on the phone if it isn't possible to be there. You will not regret it. Yesterday would have been my folks' 82nd anniversary---it is so hard to believe.

Best of luck to you with your dad.