Jeb Bush Speaks Out About Aging Father

[Kathianne]

Who just happened to be President:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/jeb-bush-speaks-aging-father-george-h-w-164446301.html


Jeb Bush speaks about aging father, George H.W. Bush<cite class="byline vcard"></cite>By Mike Krumboltz (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/author/mike-krumboltz-20110327/)
Mike Krumboltz







In an interview with Charlie Rose on "CBS This Morning (http://www.cbsnews.com/cbsthismorning/)," former Florida governor Jeb Bush revealed that his father, George H.W. Bush can no longer walk unassisted (http://yhoo.it/LxUd9V).


Jeb Bush said his father, 87, is still good mentally, but "he can't walk... He has to, you know, he's help by a stroller... That's hard for a guy that's been so vital and vigorous in life."


Indeed, there are few senior citizens as vital as George H. W. Bush. For many years, on his birthday, the 41st president made it his habit to skydive from an airplane. He did it for his 75th and 80th birthdays, as well as number 85 back in 2009.


In 2009, after landing, he joked (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31301377/ns/politics-more_politics/t/elder-bush-completes-birthday-parachute-jump/#.T9DVi8Xhdoo), ""It's a great, exhilarating feeling... I don't feel a day over 84."

...



One of the hardest things I've dealt with, my parents becoming less and less able to care for themselves. I was luckier than many, as my dad was well until my mother passed, after a decade of illness. 3 years later, he had a cancer diagnosiis. He was gone in 9 months.

[SassyLady]

My dad died at 58 and mom at 64. My girlfriend had her parents living with her .... mom was deaf and had Alzheimer's and dad was blind and going deaf. Some days she would come home and her mom started to fix dinner and took everything, and I mean everything out of the refrigerator and freezer and left on the cabinet because she couldn't remember what she was doing. She finally put them in a home and absolutely hated it. Her mom died in late 80's and her dad is in his 90's.

I sometimes feel guilty that I didn't have to go through this with my parents and hope I am not a burden to my children.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Who just happened to be President:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/jeb-bush-speaks-aging-father-george-h-w-164446301.html



One of the hardest things I've dealt with, my parents becoming less and less able to care for themselves. I was luckier than many, as my dad was well until my mother passed, after a decade of illness. 3 years later, he had a cancer diagnosiis. He was gone in 9 months.

I can relate....In 1969 I was 15 years old , my father died on his birthday that year after battling pancreatic cancer for just over a year. The hospital sent him home telling my mother he had 6 to 8 weeks, he made it almost 7 months! He had 11 kids and had serious talks with all we older children. I've tried my best to love my kids as he did his and I know he hung on so long to be with us . It was the hardest thing I've ever been thru.. My dad 5-27-1901 --5-27- 1969 died on the morning of his birthday at 68 years old...-Tyr..