HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PARENTS!

   As a baby boomer, I know how rare, but fortunate, I am to still have both my parents alive.  Tomorrow, my mother turns 92 and next month, my dad, 97!  Heck, my former mother-in-law also just had a birthday- her 98th!!  So happy birthday, parentals!
   You're probably asking, "Yes, but are they healthy?"  And, for the most part, they are!  My M-I-L still lives by herself, in the two story house in which my ex-husband grew up.  Her main deficit is her inability to hear, but other than that, she's mobile and as ornery as ever!  (Remember, she's my EX!)  My dad just had his physical and twice, the doctor commented that" the patient appears younger than his age".  He has less wrong with his body than I do with mine, for goodness' sakes!!  He's still mobile, is totally "with it," but has mentioned to me, more than once or twice on our Skype sessions, "I'm ready to go.  I've had a good run."  When I tell him that I'm not ready for him to go, we both tear up and then change the subject.
    My mother, on the other hand, has dementia, and although she still knows my dad and usually knows my sister, who visits daily, she isn't really my mom anymore.  Dementia is an awful disease, stealing a person's personality while leaving their body behind, almost as a tease.  "Gosh, you look like my mother, but who are you and what have you done with her?"
    I can totally understand my dad's readiness to exit the planet.  He married my mother when she was 18 and they've been married for 73 years!  He said she was very beautiful and sexy.  I actually have the photo album of them on their honeymoon in Miami, and my favorite photo is of them on the beach, with her sitting atop  his shoulders, in their bathing suits, so young and full of joy.  To my mother's credit, to this day,  she, also, looks younger than HER years.  Maybe because my dad still makes sure that her hair gets colored!  G-d forbid, she should be gray!  ha!   Both my parents are the last of their siblings to be alive and, of course, most of their friends, are now gone, too.  I know that I would feel the same way as he does, if I was in that situation.  I definitely don't want to be the last of my siblings to be alive.  I know that for sure!  I have a very, very sick brother right now, so I've thought alot about this.  I will be absolutely devastated if something happens to him, especially if both my parents outlive him!  But I will save that subject for a future post.
    I always used to wonder which would be worse?  To lose one's mind, while still being physically fit, like Ronald Reagan, or to lose one's physical body, while maintaining one's mind, as in Morrie, from Tuesdays with Morrie?  Sadly, I'm not any closer to a definitive answer.  They both suck!  I'll take door #3- let me go quickly, while still sound in both mind and body!  Are you listening, G-d?
   As a grief educator for almost 30 years, I have heard alot of stories, so I know that I am not alone with these thoughts and struggles.  I'd love to hear yours.