On the other hand, I do feel a certain obligation to returning the life long favor. I find myself constantly trying to gather information to ensure they, and we, are on track to keep them as happy and comfortable as possible, for as long as possible. The littany of questions and activities required to obtain that assurance begins to impede on that sense of autonomy. Add to that, the fact that my siblings want the same assurances and you get an awkward grade-school first dance where we occasionally bump into eachother, and step on our parents toes.
There are some great books out that help navigate through many of these questions and plan for the evolving phases. My favorite thus far has been Caring for your Parents written by Hugh Delehanty and Elinor Ginzler and published by AARP. The one challenge with it, and with every other book I've found, is they're quite long. My wife is working on putting together a much smaller book. As soon as it's available I'll post it here.
Also - I've been trying to build a prototype website where families can come together to post status updates, keep a common calendar, and store critical information needed for planning and ensuring things work smoothly. Let me konw your thoughts on that, and I'll provide a link soon.
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