Expiry date

Last night i went with my family to have my dad's birthday dinner. he decided to ask his parents along as we were going to a restaurant near their place. when my dad gave them a call at about 6, to remind them and inform them that hes coming now, my grandpa was kinda surprised and seemed like he never knew. they even eaten their dinner already. it was either that grandma forgot all about it and dint tell gp, or they both forgot. and dinner at 6?? its like their bio clock gone wrong.

In the past year or 2 i have observed my paternal grandparents deteriorating a lot. grandpa has hunched more, recently started to bald almost completely, leaving only some short white hairs. walking is also becoming more and more of a difficulty for him. grandma now suffers mild dementia, with the early symptoms of being easily forgeful and disoriented. so now gp has to rely on gm to move around, and gm has to rely on gp for information. and once this reliance wont work anymore, the only choice left is to place them in the care of others. i also read recently articles on dementia and the really dreadful effects of its later stages. i can only pray that grandma's wont develop to that state. i would rather she die of a sudden heart attack (touch wood) than to go through all the suffering which the whole family would share too.

they both look increasingly shrivelled with time.i cant tell and have no clue on how long they can cope, and how long more they can last. everyone has an expiry date, but it is never printed out for us. only God knows beforehand when the exact date is. but we are able to see from the signs and speculate.

Ageing is like a game of uno stacko. . as the game progresses, it will only get more and more unstable, and the signs of collapse more evident. but sometimes we play it well and though it looks like its gonna fall anytime, it still continues to stand. sometimes its built well so it can reach rather high without getting too shaky. or sometimes a careless mistake causes serious damage to the strucure or collapses it. but one thing is for sure, that it will eventually fall. and the shakier it gets, the greater the tension gets, and the more careful we are not to topple it. it can get quite agonising at the later parts, when the signs are so obvious but you dont know when its gonna collapse.

late life can be rather miserable. less abilities, more disabilities, every part of the body deteriorating; some faster than others, widening age gap between you and the new generations, getting more unfamiliar with the changing world, and worst of all, losing more and more of you peers until it becomes a desolate generation with only the young ones for company. i pity those old folks who have no young friends or relatives to visit them often.

today my grandfather was taken into hospital again. such a stubborn person. despite warnings from his relatives and doctors and knowing that his legs are weak, he still went out to NTUC this afternoon, ALONE. the result - he fell again and got a bump on his head. this the second time hes going to hospital because of a fall. he should at least go with grandma. that stubborn old man should at least think of those who may be affected if anything happens to him, if not for himself.