The good old days

[head_of_flame]

My Grandfather is dying. Each day, corrupted cells in his bones slowly and inexorably eat away at his life. Every day he experiences pain at such levels that I probably can't begin to imagine. Thus, it seems, both of my grandfathers will be claimed by the same disease. What must his life be like? Has it become a living Hell? Does death seem a

Comments

All those days are gone

[corlawc]

Those days are gone my friend. Both my great grandmother and, as of 3 weeks ago, my grandfather died of Alzheimer's. It's a terrible wasting away of the brain that eventually causes the person to lose who they are. They stop communicating, stop eating and eventually die. It's caused me to think about how I would like to go and the only answer I can come up with is not like that. Nowadays, modern medicine has enabled us to live longer lives, but their productivity has not been similarly lengthened, leading me to wonder... What is a 100 year life worth, if we're not lucid or mobile enough to enjoy it?

Pardon the long note, death has been on my mind a lot lately.
-Cor

Re: All those days are gone

[head_of_flame]

Good to hear from you. I don't mind the long posts at all, they give me a better idea of how my writing is affecting people than just: "Wow, that was great!"

[coreyaugustus]

Not to burst the bubble, Kellen, but I think in those days of old folks still died of things like cancer and heart attacks, etc. But since medicine had only progressed so far, who in Hell knew what to call these specific problems -- but the common trend was that it happened to mostly old folks, thus "they died of old age."

But that's just a hypothesis.

[onyx_nightscape]

Wrong LJ Corey.

[coreyaugustus]

Oh, you're right. Darn. I knew it sounded out of character for you.

Oh Please!

[head_of_flame]

Get with the program Corey. Thank you for your post though. I had considered your points while I was writing it, but I didn't want my tribute to dissemble into a discussion of the development of medical knowledge. Comprende?

[supercheyenne]

Hello, dearie. What a sweet, poignant post. I liked the bit about your theoretical future grandchildren.

When are you coming back to Macon? I have a local phone number now (which can be found on my facebook), if you want to call me when you get back.

I still have LJ...even if I haven't updated in like 7 months...

[_chevron_]

Sorry to hear about your grandfather. I lost one to a heart attack and another to a stroke. My grandmother in Illinois broke her hip earlier this year and my grandmother here in Brunswick is showing signs of Alzheimer's (her mom had it). I think Becca may be on to something not being able to enjoy life as an old person..

Anyway! On to happier things. I'm planning a lil' get-together for this coming Sunday. If you're back in town then drop a line. You have AIM now...so no excuses. =P If you want more info on it I put a lot of crap on the League page on facebook. Peace!

Phil

Dude.

[anonymous]

Man, that sucks about your Grandpa. Kinda funny that you're learning to play the harmonica, though. I tried once with a "Klutz guide to harmonica". Couldn't even get past the first chapter, all the notes just seemed to blend into one big noise when I played. ;) So good luck with that.

But as to your last paragraph, I'm sorry, but I must concur with Correy. In the good old days people just died of old age because they didn't know what else to call it. Of course there has always been cancer and Parkinson's and heart attacks, and what are these if not "their bodies got too old to function properly"? It's just that lately the causes of death have been identified and methods of treatment have been devised. I think a better question would be if dying at home surrounded by loved ones is preferable to trying to fight the sickness off in long hospital stays and such. Sorry to nitpick though, that might have been what you were getting at anyways. =) Good post my man.