I'm the baby (I'm 49!), but for whatever reasons, never married, no kids. My sibs and I are doing our best to take care of our parents. Right now, we are all pitching in together. It's tough, but I love my family. I'm the only one who has no kids/husband of my own. I'm just looking ahead. I'm just sad that I will lose my parents and I don't really have anything to fall back on. Can anyone relate?
My significant other has two grown and married children from a previous marriage, good people, but they can't barely take care of themselves, so their Dad won't be able to depend on them for any Caregiving help. Thus, we have our sights set on really nice retirement villages/facilities.
In fact, my desk mate is a women who is dealing with impossible in-laws who came to visit for a year from the old home land.... imagine, visiting for a year !!.... anyway, we vent to each other about carrying for aging parents. We look forward to our weekly sessions :)
i built another home 15 years ago figuring i could troll around in the basement while grandkids were living upstairs . i guess that could still happen ..
gonna go see em again this weekend . " rubiks cube " has gotten rather burned out on his emt career , he could end up back down this way someday .
i still squeeze off rifle shots at bluntman when he drives by . he aint siphoning my friggin fuel tank anymore . it wasnt funny when he was 5 and it aint funny now .
I know my friends gave up on me because I kept saying *no* to outings.... was just too tried from dealing with my aging parents. None of those friends could relate to what I was going through, as either their parents had past on decades ago, or their parents live out of state and other siblings are doing the hands on work.
I also moved in with my parents a couple of years ago to help them as they had several health matters, surgeries, etc., but are doing better now. I will no doubt care for them when they need it down the road.
I also run my own business. I have two siblings, but no delusions that they would care for me one day if I needed it. They are great people, but that would never happen. I'll have to be as self sufficient as possible, so I'm really trying to keep my health as good as possible and set myself up as best I can.
What I have decided to do is to stay VERY social with church, local politics, volunteer organizations, and support groups. I plan to fall in LOVE and get married. I know, it sounds crazy, but I do expect that to happen. I'm looking for a good man in pretty good health! lol There are no guarantees in life, but relationships are so important in life. I intend to cultivate new ones and old ones.
There are many people out there who care for the elderly and infirmed, often with no help and no support. I see people who have several adult children doing without help for some unknown reason. Having kids does not offer you any guarantees. I even know elderly people who have adult children who still drive them crazy with substance abuse, illegal behavior, money matters, etc. Life truly is a box of chocolates.
I am a bit of an introvert, and know that I really need to cultivate more friendships and community involvement. I am sociable, I really am! :) But, with working full time and managing my mother's needs, and taking care of a household (small though it is), I just don't have any desire after all that to go meet up with friends or commit more than an hour or so to socializing.
I know this is a very sensitive issue, but I'm with kathyt1 -- I haven't looked into it yet, but definitely will arrange something like dignitas for myself. I know so many disagree with this, and I respect that. But for myself, well, I have no problem with it. Makes sense to me for many reasons.