I'll try to put this topic back on track on the subject of caregiving. I look through last year's posts, and compare the situation then and now, and I can see that my mother is doing better (knock on wood). It's not all a straight line decline. She is having more problems expressing herself and her walk is very halting, but she is not having the "sundowner" problem anymore, is not throwing away valuable things, and is fairly upbeat most of the time. I, in turn, am more relaxed and am not blowing things so out of proportion. Maybe part of it is that things are so much more grim on the national front and I realize that I have to count my blessings where I can!