faster pussycat... type! type!

last night i went to the mall, on my way home from work, to pick up the latest sims expansion pack for the mac, superstar, and fondle it at the apple store. as i was walking through nordstrom, i was thinking about my paternal grandparents, and what i could possibly get them for xmas. they live in sun city arizona, in an assisted living apartment. they are in their late 80's, and not well. grandma pulls an oxygen tank around with her, because she's got emphysema, and she has trouble reading due to glaucoma. also, she's a bit loopy now. earlier this year, she got very sick, and it was determined she was not drinking enough water, she was very dehydrated. we can barely get her to drink teaspoons!! granddad has a bum need to arthritis, and his mobility is cut down to the point of needing a walker for short distances, and an electric cart for longer distances. he's in constant pain, but can't have surgery because he wouldn't survive it. yesterday, he fell and went back into the hospital. he didn't break anything, but he can't put weight on that leg, so they are going to do an mri today. faye, my stepmom, says that i wouldn't even recognize him, he just seems lost most of the time.

this january, we are coming up on the 10 year anniversary of my father's death. their son. and i think that's what really did them in. they never seemed to recover from it. my dad and stepmom were very very close to my grandparents. and this wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. for any of us. he wasn't supposed to go before them. and he wasn't supposed to go when my little brother was only 12. and he definitely wasn't supposed to leave before he could retire and travel the world with faye. and he wasn't supposed to leave me. but he did. and it really took the wind out of my grandparents sails.

how do you buy a xmas present for people in this stage of life? they can't do anything ... they are too limited or in too much pain. is it bad to almost wish they could lay down, on their little twin beds and just be out of pain and sadness? that when they go, they go together, in their sleep, and in peace?