Oh crikey, MI. Schedule a large gin later.
I think my parents are on the downward slope. My dad, as you know, has been getting worse and worse, dementia-wise, each time I see him. He's verging on urinary incontinence, now. Mum has always held everything together, remembered everything from friends' names to appointments, but her memory is getting worse. Trying to make an arrangement between us all is becoming v difficult. By phone she forgets what we said the previous time, so we do it by en-masse email. But then she a) doesn't 'reply to all' and b) doesn't read previous emails anyway. So the same question gets asked many times.
Last night I got an odd email saying 'dad is fretting - he'd love a message from you'. I only rang a few days ago, and in any case he never actually speaks on the phone as he can't hear well enough.
I don't think mum realises the gradual decline in both of them, and can see that in the near future I am going to have to Do Something.
Sigh.