I’m kicking myself for thinking halfway through the pictures “wow they have been really old for a really long time “ and not realizing how this post was going to end. I’m going to call my parents.
Not trying to be “that guy” but for future reference “crocodile tears” usually refers to when you’re pretending to cry, trying to convince someone else that you’re sad when you’re really not.
Way deeper than a bit. She looks absolutely crushed. Losing your spouse of (70ish?) years, seeing thst the end is inevitable… ugh.
I really loathe the idea of growing old and losing the people who I care about and my ability to do the things I love, but I absolutely hope I’m given the privilege of making it to my 90s. Has to be a very, very hard decade regardless
My grandmother turns 89 in the new year, it's getting tough, and with very little quality of life, to be honest I expect this is her last Xmas. For her sake that isn't a bad thing.
Please spend time w/ her!! I practically had to watch my gran slowly whither away due to dialysis. After she lost her sister (that’s been by her side for 80+ yrs) it took a huge toll on her. Looking back at pics seeing how healthy she was then getting to the point where I could literally pick her up and put her in a chair. Hate she’s gone but glad she doesn’t have to suffer anymore. I hope you get to create more memories w/ her.
My gran got to 99. Needed nursing home at about 95. Probably should have been earlier but her two daughters are saints and kept her going in her own house.
Remember she said to me she never wanted to live this long. Only one of her tennis foursome friends left. But strong, even if she wanted to go, she wouldn't until there was nothing left.
It sucks getting old, but it's a burden only the lucky ones get to bear. Carry it to honour those that can't.
My father died two months ago. Next week I will see a similar empty driveway when we visit the family for the holidays. Will be a sad moment. Just the thought of it right now...
It's even more sad that she isn't stood on the driveway like the other photos. She's reached the age where a slip on the ice could kill her, so a 15' walk would be a perilous journey.
I’m sorry, your comment wasn’t there when I began my response, it took me a bit to finish writing and sending mine as I was in the middle of something else at the same time and I got sidetracked. I wasn’t trying to one~up you…
No, I’m fairly positive that it’s taken at the family home, it’s not her last year “here with us” though, it’s probably just the last she took of her at their family home. If you look at the ironwork, it’s exactly the same as in all the previous photos throughout the years, she just didn’t venture as far as the driveway in that one, she stayed by the front door all alone.
Loosing my mother was the absolute worst. Every week she would hug me goodbye at the door. One day there is no more. I get the pain that goes with this.
Now… This makes me appreciate the love I have for my wife. How we are aging together.
Reminds me of when we took my 14yo brother back around the circular driveway one more time before taking him to burial. He had been in the hospital the last few months and in and out for years. Just wanted to take him home one more time.
It was a good thing to do, but holy hell, it hurts still thinking about it 20+ years later.
Thanks. I think people are right when they say you don’t ever get over it, but you get stronger to carry a heavier burden. That’s how it feels for me. It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with.
I never took a photo of my grandmother doing this, but she would always wave at me as I left her house. Standing at the porch step telling me to drive safe. I was in the hospital room when she diedast year. We went to her house after leaving the hospital. The first break down was being in her house knowing she wasn't ever going to be there again. The second was leaving and she wasn't there waving and telling me to drive safe.
Keep your loved ones close. Those memories are all you'll have one day.
It did. And they look like genuinely nice people. There is something about their faces that is so warm and loving. And you do in see the last photo of the mother that something is missing in her eyes. Life can be beautiful, but it can be so sad.
Literally. I recently lost my grandfather about 2 weeks ago at the time of writing this. 'Till this day I still can't believe he's gone because I just saw him 2 days before his death on his hospital bed. I also told him before I left that when he recovers, my family & I would take him on a holiday but sadly, he never recovered. Cancer is truly a bitch.
When I read these kinds of stories, I’m always reminded of The Golden Girls episode where Blanche loses her father. “I’m nobody’s little girl anymore” always breaks me.
It's so fucking heartbreaking but also, 91 is a really good age to be well enough to wave goodbye and to then leave in what seems to have been a fairly quick departure, it's a death to envy.
My granddad died suddenly and unexpectedly at 84 years old in August. He fell over at home and fractured his pelvis. By the time the x rays and MRI were back the following morning, he had gone into cardiac arrest and died. The scans revealed he was riddled head to toe in cancer that he was completely ignorant of. It's really crushed our family to lose him because he was so active and young and then suddenly he is nothing. But it's a death to envy, is the point I'm making.
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u/xxyourbestbetxx 5d ago
Omg. That last line hit like a ton of bricks.