An inappropriate commentary on aging to follow .
A quite charming woman , X2s grandmother , said to me among other things that she had worked 30 yr in nursing and geriatric care . She had hoped that her mind would give up before her body . She had seen too many people with sharp , clear , active minds trapped in broken bodies that took all their focus to just manage the daily needs . She got her wish as her world got smaller each day . Of course she could tell you what she had for breakfast the morning Kennedy was killed , either of them , and what she had for lunch when Elvis died ......just not 2 hours ago . She kept her own home and a small flower garden to within an hour or so .
3 weeks before he passed he was on a backhoe . 2 weeks before he was in a hospital with Dr's arguing in the hall about continuing a hormone treatment that was working extremely well and had his liver working better than it had in 2-3 years . In his last week he barked orders and instructions for finishing some repairs he and Mom just couldn't do . The fire was there , he was so mad that he couldn't see what we were doing and talk to us or even write out what he needed to say the last 4-5 days .
As he had done on so many business trips he made sure everyone was angry with him before he left , having long ago told my Mom it made his going away easier . It didn't work so much after the first week or so .
Anyway I can't imagine what it would have been like for him to have been like he was those last 2 weeks had it lasted months much less years .
Be thankful for the fading mind and the sound body or the just sudden stop .