As our parents are aging they become more of a worry in the little details of life.  They become forgetful, however, that isn’t really just older parents as I sometimes have to make myself post it notes to remember the every day details of life.  It comes with age is what everyone seems to say. 

The most painful discussion in our household has been when to finally take the keys from our eighty-four year old father who is still very much in control of his facilities and stays very active in life and is in very good health.  He still lives by himself and can care for himself without the slightest bit of help.  The problem is his reaction times are slower and his driving has become somewhat of a problem.  He is still able to drive and we just worry that he is going to become involved in an accident as he is slower to respond and he gets frustrated in difficult traffic. 

The problem is that by taking away his keys we will be taking away a good part of his freedom and thus we are going to put him into a depression of sorts.  He is very capable right now of being independent and the question comes as do we take that away or wait it out and let him continue driving as it does not appear that he is going to stop on his own.

The other problem would that he would then have to rely on someone else to take him where he wants to go.  This would be a problem for him as he has always made his own way, perhaps he will come around but if not it is going to be a challenge to us all to finally have to say enough is enough and take them for his safety and others.