If you ever want to feel humbled and grateful for what you've got

I thank god everynight for all the blessings I have

Me too.... he's 2... and he's my world.

I beg to differ. I don't think nursing homes are in everyone's future. My parents will never see the insides of a nursing home as long as me or my two brothers are alive.

The only difference is that the people in nursing homes don't have people that are a) successful enough or b) care enough to keep them out of those places.

i was referring to the states of mental and physical health of the people. not their physical location

I felt humbled and grateful for what I've got last week in Cancun.

We all like to think that we've got what we've got because we're smarter, more special than the average.

But, the truth is, ACCIDENTS OIF BIRTH probably have more to do with your ultimate "achievements" in life, than who you ARE.

I could see spark and intelligence and cunning and ambition in the eyes of MANY cocktail waitresses and busboys in Cancun.

They looked at all of us (swollen and decadent adult webmasters), surely thinking:

"He is NOT better than me. If I had gotten the chance he got, I would have done more."

We're all gonna age and die. I've already come to terms with that -- it's inevitable, after all.

What gets me are the things that DON'T have to be -- the things that simply ARE for some of us, and simply AREN'T for the rest.


j-

I agree. I hope my kids won't bring me to one when I get old.

No, living in a nursing home is not coming to us all. What an absurd statement.

I take exception to that and here is why.

When my mother had her massive stroke, the hospital had her for as long as they could in order to monitor her and do physical therapy. After that, no amount of home health care could have done what the nursing home could, so she went there until we could get a single story home. I was looking at the very first house with a realtor when my brother drove up to tell me that our mother had passed away.

a) level of "success" had absolutely *nothing* to do with it.
b) my 4 brothers and my sister and I loved and cared for her very much, not to mention her dozens of close friends and extended family all across the country.

There *are* circumstances where a hospital MUST have it's bed space and staff available for others and you must leave. You MUST have round the clock professional care in an accessible location for the patient, and fully equipped and staffed!

So the diffrence is not love or care or cash. ALL of those are important, but even with an abundance of all of those things, you have to do what is the right thing that makes the most common, and medical sense.

I dont think it's very realistic to call people without enough cash to outright purchase what will essentially be a hospital wing and staff as "unsuccessful".

Maybe I over-reacted and you werent talking about people who could die without extensive round the clock care.

If so, then I'm sorry.

Not every person dies quickly or quietly in their sleep, and it's not a shameful thing to use facilities designed to provide care for those that need truly need it.

Exactly. My wife and I took care of my Father for 4 years in house until he had 2 strokes and a brain hemhorage last year. After that it was impossible to keep him in our house without the proper medical equipment and 24 hour care.

To say nursing homes have to do with the level of success or love of the children is idiotic at best.

And I agree, many people will not end up in one. Take care of yourselves now and hope for continued good physical and mental health...

I used to have that cocky attitude about never putting my parents in a nursing home too. Don't judge until you've been there...