Having my almost-97 year old dad living with me has been quite an education in the process of aging. It's really difficult to be old, in ways that I never dreamed of until I my dad moved in. Every winter the last few years he has gotten a major illness, and I call 911 and we go to the emergency room and we sit there for hours and hours and hours. He eventually comes home after a stay in the hospital in which his behavior deteriorates in direct correlation with the improvement of his health, until the end where he is well enough to go home, he is a bellowing ranting and raving old man (with nurses threatening to put him in restraints) yelling "Let's get outta this place, they don't know what they are doing!" This is a good thing, to see all this energy and independence, but very hard on my nerves.
Last week was our annual 911 call, a bout with pneumonia. He was in the hospital for 5 days, trying to climb out of bed the whole time. He recovered, came home for 2 days, relapsed with a major infection, so back we went.
So you have to think, is this the end? I never know. I DO know that he has the strongest constitution of anyone I know, and comes from a long-lived family. Good genes. And sure enough, in only one day they managed to get his infection controlled and he's back home again today.
Life is short, but for my dad, it's been longer than most and an education for me. Tips for a comfortable old age: good health, a positive attitude, enough money, Medicare, and a doting child to be your advocate!
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