Thank you all.......

Thanks everyone for your words, it means a lot to me.
Quick cliffnotes story about dad. Dad will be 72 this year. He retired early in '99 from nearly 40 years of raking concrete, talking non stop of fishing 5 days a week. He had a checkup not long after,and the doc recommended a colonoscopy, and they found pre-cancerous polyups. A simple surgery and it was over on the medical end, but on dads end it was too much of a scare. From that day on, he sat on the couch and did nothing but watch tv. No matter what we tried, he just quit. His arthritis got worse, his heartrate only rose when he got up to get coffee or go to the bathroom. He fell into a slump, occasionally admitting that he was just waiting to die. Now jump to last January. He goes in the ER and we find out he's not only fighting pnemonia, but he also has COPD and emphisima, along with low blood pressure. He's dealt with that ok since he got home, his mood got better, and he has went from 114 lbs to 165 since.( at 6 feet tall, he looked awful at 114) Now he has cellulitis, and is on meds for that, along with all the other pills, plus oxygen 24/7 and his breathing treatment 3 times a day. He's in decent spirits, but scared and feeling sorry for himself. I sit over there and talk every chance I get, and give him the occasional kick in the ass when he makes a stupid comment. We tell the same old hunting and fishing stories over and over, but neither of us seems to care.

It's just tough for me to see him this way. Dad was always the tough guy, the one that came home from work with a broken finger wrapped in duct tape, (he actually did that!), or yanking a fishhook out of his own forehead and continue fishing looking like he was mauled by a bear. He was always active, and now he's just a tired old man watching tv all day. I'm always happy when I'm there talking to him, but always sad on the way home knowing he isn't half the man he once was. I guess facing the fact that my parents will never get old or pass away is a hard pill to swallow.

Thanks again everyone.....Chris