[recycled sixtie]

Interesting thread. We are generally living longer. I think of my two grandmothers who died back in the 1950's aged 72. They did not exercise at all and were somewhat overweight.That was not unusual then to die at that age. Now people are living longer generally into their 80's. Like I used to tell my mother before she passed away aged 94 that people are like cars, the longer they are on the road the more cr@p that happens to them.

Now my mother was proactive. She had a condo she lived in till in her 80's. Then she rented it out and moved into a group home. Then she moved into a blindhome although she was not totally blind. She sold her condo. Her group home/blind home cost around $240,000 over the ten years.

Now my father in law passed away last year. He outlived his wife by ten years. He pretty much needed to be told what to do. He could not live in his condo by himself. He needed meals. So we got him in to an old folks building that served meals. He would not allow just anybody to come in to his unit to clean the place. It had to be the children or me that vacuumed the place.


Eventually he fell and went into the hospital. He said take me to your home. We said nothing. Many years ago when he was head of the household he had his mother in law living with him as well as his wife and 4 children. He put the fear of God into the mil and his wife.

My wife and I agreed he could not live in our house. Fortunately we found a govt. type seniors home. Most of all patients were bedridden. His govt. benefits barely covered the costs of living there. He lived 2 years there and passed away age 98 last year.

I would not mind taking in aged parents if they were reasonable. Bigoted, demanding,
abusive I cannot handle. The people that work in these long term care homes are saints. We feel a sense of freedom now that he has passed away. It was expected by the other 3 siblings of my wife that we kept an eye on him and look after him as we lived here.

Hope this helps!
Guy