Over the mountains

It is another gorgeous day here in the PNW. I haven't wanted to pack up and move yet this winter! That is a first for me. Today my family and I are going to Eastern Washington. This is where my husband and I grew up. His parents still live there and my sister does as well. In addition to visiting with family, we are there for a purpose. I am planning to help my mother-in-law rearrange her kitchen cupboards. A lifetime of collecting things has accumulated in there and I have finally talked her into passing some of her things on to charity and making more room. She is quite short and needs things moved down lower so she doesn't have to use a stool to reach them. The last time she did that she ended up falling flat on her back and unable to get up. Not a good thing. It is a difficult thing to see your parents, even in-laws, needing help more and more as they age. Though she is pretty young at heart and relatively healthy for 79, she is realizing, as are we, that there are many things she can no longer do. This is probably one of the toughest parts of growing older for me; the reversal of roles between parent and child. Both of my parents have already passed on, so I have made this journey already... How do you deal with aging parents? With your own aging process?