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My husband worked with and developed a friendship with a gentleman twenty years ago. He had two children. After his wife died, the man lived alone and soon could no longer care for himself. My husband cooked every meal he ate, cleaned his house, bought his groceries, literally, did everything for the man.

I can totally relate to what you say. I befriended a woman in a similar state -- bought groceries, took her to church, etc. When she complained about her back hurting I bought her a new mattress. She died while I was on vacation/picking up my daughter from college.

This woman's daughter, who lived just a couple miles from her and had refused to even visit her when she was alive, did the one thing her mother feared she would do when she died. The daughter cremated her, because it was cheaper. I don't know what I would've done to help had I been in town. But, I have never known a colder woman in my life. I was told that when she was told that her mother had died, the daughter exclaimed, "Praise the Lord!"

There is a hair salon I like to go to down the street. A lot of old ladies go there. One of the saddest things I heard was the fear of some of the ladies of giving their kids power of attorney or even leaving town for a few weeks. One lady said she caught her neighbor's grandkids trying to have an estate sale when the lady was on vacation.
Another thing that urks me are the kids who don't want their parents to spend money on retirement advantages (i.e. homes, vacations, etc.) because they don't want their inheritance spent.

I was told that when she was told that her mother had died, the daughter exclaimed, "Praise the Lord!"

OMG, there is a special place in hell for that gal.

My father died seven years ago - I'm still not over it. My mother lives in a mother-in-law suite we built at our home for her shortly after his death. She's 84, a handful, drives to Mass every day, and watches Fox News exclusively. She'll call me at the office to scream about democrats, the UN, or anything on the left - they are keeping her young. ;-)