Remember...walking in the sand

Life is all about changes.  And not always for the better.

I'm at the age where the realities of aging are apparent.  My body changes shape.  It is harder and harder to lose weight.  I gain in aches and pains.

But watching my mother in law, who is 25 years older than me, can be a painful "window into the future", or maybe a cautionary tale of sorts.  Not that she has done anything wrong but I see how it is harder and harder for her to bounce back from physical trauma.

My mother in law just returned from a one week visit to relatives in Florida, and she had a wonderful time.  We got to spend a week with my developmentally disabled brother in law (my other brother in law and his wife spent even more time with him). This was the longest contact my spouse has had with him since moving out of the house.

Meanwhile, my mother in law said that while she was down in Florida, it was like the burdens of the world had been lifted from her, and now they were back.

This is not the kind of thing she normally says.  She's fiercely independent but...is she, to put it bluntly, wearing out?

And one worrysome thing-it is no secret to us that she has various mobility problems.  Many of these came from a small stroke she suffered a couple of years ago.

But she reported she wasn't able to walk on a sandy beach without falling.  Will I be in those shoes one day?

And what can I do to prevent it?