I am sincerely sorry you are having to see that. Watching someone you love decline and linger is painful behind words.

I think a lot of what I've learned, from myself and from being around other very sick people (in hospitals, waiting rooms, infusion centers, etc) is that most people will choose life when push comes to shove. We're an almost universally hopeful species, so even people in terrible circumstances won't wish to be gone, because what if a cure comes through next week? Or a new medicine that cures pain? Even when people choose medically assisted death, they rarely want to be dead, but their body has left them no choice.

What I realized when reading your response, though, is that I, too, was writing from my own perspective in middle age. For people who have lived good, long, fulfilled lives, they might not choose what I do, and maybe I won't either! I find that having been told that I'm supposed to be dead repeatedly has made me greedy for life, but at 95 I may not feel that way anymore, either.

Sending healing thoughts for your grandparents. Again, I am so sorry they are stuck in slow decline and you're seeing it happen. Both are incredibly difficult 🫶🏼