My grandfather on my mom's side will be 93 in July. My real grandmother died from leukemia complications before I turned two, so I have grown up knowing my "step grandmother."
So I got an e-mail from my mom today that said basically, my step grandmother, who's 85, was taken to the hospital last week with chest pains. It turns out her potassium levels were low, she has thyroid problems, and blood thinner was out of range. For the last few years, she has taken care of my grandfather while he has steadily gotten worse, mentally and physically. He still gets around with a walker.
While my mom was staying a couple of days with my grandfather, she got a clear picture of how he is and how he treats my grandmother. He's gotten to be just a mean old codjure, demanding that she take him out to these cheap all you can eat buffets every day, haul him around to church meetings and Civitan Club meetings - where he summarily falls asleep...stuff like that. When she says on occasion that she's not feeling well (again, she's 85 and still drives!), he starts threatening her, telling her he'll get on the phone and find someone who WILL take him these places.
At any rate, I've seen this often with people in that age range. They abuse the people who love them the most. It's not the way we want to remember them for sure.