If it's not our children, it's our parents. My 91-year-old father had a hemorrhagic stroke last summer. His physical rehab has been so-so, but his cognitive recovery has been good. He has spent the last 6 months in a rehab facility, three of those on the skilled nursing floor, and he will continue to need that physical care.

His fellow "inmates" as he puts it, are/were high achievers (chemist, opthalmologist, professor, head coach, school board president, and so on), but have been affected by physical and/or cognitive decline greater than my dad's. So now I am trying to convince his facility to let him participate in the activities with the folks on the assisted living floor, because he needs that mental stimulation. I just can't be there every day to discuss the stock market, politics, golf, engineering, history, with him. I bring his computer when I visit, but I hesitate to leave it with him because even before this, we got a call once a week to resolve something he had inadvertently changed, and for security reasons of course.

It's like advocating for my kiddo all over again.

I know this is outside the realm of the topic, but this is the only place where I know you'll understand!