My dad has dementia and not aware of it

@Babyseal That is tough. Real tough. Tough on everyone around him. He is the only one not aware of it.

@Babyseal My father also had dementia so I empathise.

@Tiffanny i empathise too. Have you any advice

@Babyseal Yes..When your Dad talks about something however irrational go along with it. They become very emotional and frustrated as no one understands what is going on in their head. My Dad loved to hear music it made him cry and he also watched films with my 9then 9 year old nephew it made him happy.

Ooops, Too late. (Hopefully not)

@David1955 At this point it will probably take 4-5 years (optimistically) for every one year they are in office for us to recover. Ir might take longer. Depends on how much obstruction the republicans put up.

@snytiger6 If I know one thing from decades of studying US history and politics, it is that your country has an extraordinary capacity for renewal and recovery. I watched the assassinations, dissent against the War in Vietnam, race riots and all that in the 1960s as a kid and teenager. I do think that unless the Republican Party there is detoxified in some way, somehow made less gangrenous and poisonous, then your problems will go. I'm not optimistic about that.

@David1955 If you look at how countries have goen from great wealth and into decline throughout history, you woudl have to conclude that the U.S. is on the decline. You might have to look at ancient Rome, the Dutch, The English and Spain and how empires grew and declined and the evolution of the economies to discern a pattern, but generally right before a country goes into decdline they outsource theri manufacturing and move to more of a service oriented economy, and end up with a shrinking middle class, which is/was actually the consumer base which drives the eonomy. After a whiel of this a tipping oint is reached and the economy crashes. There is also another pattern in many ancient civilizations where they create a large city and use uip all the natural resources in the surrounding area, which leads to an economic collapse. The U.S. is currently using a colonial approach to having used up natural resources, and taking them from other countries, much like England did (although with different resources) before WWII. Colonialism is expensive and unsustainable over time. A very few peopel will get very rich,but in the end the house of cards will fall.

@snytiger6 I fear you may be right. And how the world order changes if a diminished US continues is very much a concern. I also fear a crumbling of the US from within through social division and economic inequality. The biggest military in the world won't offset that. It's a pity that some Americans who see themselves as patriots fail to see that moral leadership in the world is actually more important than the size of the military. And US moral leadership has declined hugely; it seriously started with Bush Jr and that election, was only partially arrested under the disappointing Obama years, and now is in free fall under Trump. It gives me no pleasure to say these things about the US.

I've had benign paroxysmal positional vertigo on and off for years. (Balance issues and vertigo.). You'd be off your rocker if you weren't afraid of heights! I have trouble with flat floors some days!

Stairwells are not my friends.

Cats are not afraid of heights.

Just saying.

I used to have fear of heights... still not fascinated by it but while in the Navy I volunteered to do the maintenance in the highest antennas in the highest masts. You climb, you are by yourself, at sea is tough because the boat is rocking but I always enjoyed isolation and I am a daring type of guy without being a today's type of idiot. I think helped me. But I understand the tension climbing. So I have to face my fear face to face. I still not getting any tattoo, I am afraid of needles.

I thought that was every man's nightmare?! It is a bitch to live with external sex organs, isn't it.

Well, I'm an actor, so it's a very real possibility.

I thought it was every man's Fantasy... ????

I'd much rather grow older alone than be stuck with someone I can't get rid of.

@unclemike lol, but comparing my fear to someone's situation doesn't directly answer the question posted (imo)

That's right at the top of my list as well Dick. If I cannot care for myself in even basic ways and end up completely dependent on others - it would drive me crazy.

Same here Emerald

There's hope for you yet Copen. I was 52 before I found my life companion. That was 21 years ago.

can't argue with that,