The poem is wonderful! My grandmother is 99 and is sliding fast. My mother is 73 and is having her own crisis with the situation. Both my father and grandfather passed in 1999. You get good at switching on the immune to the pain switch and being the nurse caretaker, but in the moments of quiet - well, i just want my family back. I am thankful for every good moment, every fun summer vacation, every dinner at grandma & pa's house, every visit with my father. and now i am thankful that i can be the rock for these people who have done so much for me. It is the best gift i can give them...... tissue please!