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I have 3 brothers and a sister. My parents have been together for more than 65 years now, and, like every one of us, they are getting old, in their mid-80s now. My mom has had several surgeries including a stroke a few years ago, and my dad has had both hips replaced. None of these problems have limited them and they still love each other as the first day, but now we are starting to face the age of them.
My mom started suffering from mental dementia a couple of years ago, it is not too strong, but it keeps slowly growing every week. They are aging their last years on a different page, and my dad suffers from having to take care of her as well as the house which is a quite big one.
They've been checking different senior nursing homes as my dad is starting to reach a point where he can't deal with the situation anymore, they are starting to argue as never before and it is sad. Nursing homes are fine if you have no other choice but if your mental health is fine, it is a little bit tough to live there as most of the residents are much worse than you are so you cannot socialize at all.
My dad is quite convinced to go there as he needs someone to watch after her while he can just get out to purchase groceries or do other things, he also needs help to take care of the things in the house and he does not like the idea of having different strangers coming to the house, the problem is my mom, who is the one needing the most help, does not want to leave the house to go to a nursing home.
When you are old, you need to start delegating most of your decisions as your head just does not feel comfortable bothering with insignificant things you can cope with at any other age, my dad is stubborn and does not request for help, but they both need it.
There are two of my brothers and I who live in the same village as them, so we have decided to propose to have them both in our houses for turning periods, instead of hiring someone to stay at their house. It won't be easy to convince them as they feel they can cope with the situation, but they can't.
I just realize this is the beginning of a slow process of them getting worse and where the house will probably have to be sold with most of their memories inside. They will need lots of help, physically and emotionally and I hope we can together make the end of their lives as happy as it has been so far.