it's a wonder they even survive

Yep.

my grandma is 92

she is skin and bone

yet she is still hanging in there

they had to take her to the hospital on the weekend - she collapsed from dehydration. Apparently she has been so depressed she stopped drinking and eating. She has lived alone for about 50 years. She used to make friends a lot, but then they kept getting sick and dying of old age.

I live on the other side of the world from her

ZombieKitten said:

where does she live?

brownsugar said:

sweden

depression is a silent cancer.

weepingwall said:

Depression is easier to cure though.

weepingwall said:

JasmineFire said:

thank you, I so wish I could jump on a plane right now

FruitToAttractBears said:

damn you,
i was trying to be poetic.

Definitely. But other animals are even more fragile... When an animal gets a broken bone, that's probably the end for them... they can't set the bone as humans do...

ZombieKitten said:

i've been there before.

coolcat said:

that is true

I guess what I am thinking is, several times a year my grandma (and many others I am sure) just give up. She just goes to bed and cries. She loses her will to keep going, and if it weren't for people acting quickly each time she would probably have died long ago. Each time she gets help that human interaction that she needs so much, lights a little spark that lets her keep going a little longer.

I think the will to keep going is really all it is sometimes, and it is so frightening to think if you lose that, what happens to you? When you think that no-one loves you? or you are no use to anyone?

weepingwall said:

Sorry.

.
[Edited 11/13/06 19:22pm]

ZombieKitten said:

I'm so sorry your grandma is going through that. Is there any way she can live with relatives?

coolcat said:

no

ZombieKitten said:

All you can do is let her know she's loved. Hang in there!

coolcat said:

I have wanted to call her the last 3 days but I have completely lost my voice she will get a message via my parents but it's just not the same

ZombieKitten said:

She knows you love her... Just give her a call when your voice returns. It'll be alright.

coolcat said:

Thank you

grandmas are the greatest!

SpisaRibb said:

they are indeed

btw I like this post a lot better than your previous one!

ZombieKitten said:

I've lived across the country from my grandparents my whole life. It's weird because I feel close, but I hardly ever see them or talk to them.

Sometimes I think of how fragile we are and it's really scary. We could literally die at any moment, and all the time I spend in my car isn't helping!

ZombieKitten said:

It certainly is quite frightening to realize how easily the thread holding together one's will to live can become strained, or be broken. I believe that fragile, fine thread that connects each of us to 'life' also connects each of us to one another as well, and as human beings we should daily remind everyone that we are able of their relevence and importance in this world. There are those who fight a continuous battle to cling to that fragile thread and find reason to make it through one more day and into the next, which is why even a single kind word can make a such a profound impact on another's spirit.

to your grandmother. I hope she soon will be doing better.

WillyWonka said:

omg!! thank you so much for this!
that is amazing
[Edited 11/14/06 0:02am]

NDRU said:

it could be worse, you could be riding a motorcycle


[Edited 11/14/06 0:02am]

Humans are unbelievably fragile. Yet we feel invincible. We're idiots really.

I saw a guy get hit by a car and die; and old man.
The car hit him and his legs broke, flew up and twisted round his neck. His body then hit the windscreen of the car, which took off the top half of his head and sent the rest of his body flying up about 15ft in the air. He landed hard on the ground with a sickening crack and a whole pool of blood started pouring out of him quicker than I've ever seen blood flow before.

It's not like in the movies.