A Darker Shade of Writing

I'm taking a break from my normal Wednesday feature, as the snow comes down. We are supposed to get 6 to 12 inches of snow before it turns into a "wintery mix".

The last month has been interesting - not necessarily in a pleasant way.

A 100 year old relative hospitalized twice. I saw her last in October, and yesterday, she seemed so....frail.  She had a wonderful appetite and stuffed herself.  When the talk turned to Newtown (so many discussions nowadays do....) she immediately voiced her opinion.  Bless her, not only does she have all her mental facilities, but she keeps up with all current events.  But she barely escaped being put into a nursing home, this last time.  Against medical advice, her son, who himself suffers from various health issues, brought her home.  I can only hope things work out, because these relatives do not have much in the way of money.

It's the moment we all dread - the moment many of us eventually have to face with aging parents-what to do? Her problem, thankfully, was not a fall, but something that can hopefully be controlled with medication for a long time. 

And then, there is the situation with my mother in law.  We live 150 miles from her, which makes us long distance caregivers.  She falls several times a year and her last fall was about two weeks ago.  At least this time she told her daughter, who is the closest in distance to her, about the fall. She aggravated an old injury from another fall, and is suffering with back pain.  Because of medication she is on, she can't take much in the way of pain killers.  She hasn't been able to walk without support for a while, but she may have to transition from a cane to a walker.

Driving is more and more difficult and her county, a relatively rural NY county, does not have much in the way of services for its senior citizens. 

She's stubborn and it's great for her spirit and morale, but not great for her three non-disabled children, who she doesn't listen to until she hurts herself, and then it is too late.  There is also the added complication of the fourth child, a man in his 50's who has autism.

I really haven't talked about some portions of my life up to now.  I'm doing some heavy thinking these past few weeks, wondering if I should talk more about these issues I face as an aging baby boomer - or if it will turn off my younger readers if I do.  And, if I should talk more about some of the other issues we here in the United States are facing.

So, I will ask my readers:

Should I talk more about issues like aging, long distance caregiving and adults with autism?  I wouldn't give up the photography, and talking about gardening and sustainable living, but this is a direction I want to take with my blog.

What do you think?