Wouldnt it be awesome to have actual video evidence of what happened 500 years ago. People born in 2500 will have that privilege.

My last grandparent made it to the age of 84.

She was fully independent until her 80th birthday, when she was in a car accident on her way to visit us so we could take her out to dinner. Later that year, she caught pneumonia and had to be hospitalized. Without modern medicine, she absolutely would not have survived this.

She lived, but never regained the strength in her legs to walk under her own power. After that, it was one random malady after another that her doctor mostly kept at bay via an ever-increasing assortment of pills. She suffered a stroke at 84 and lived again, but lost her speech. She mercifully passed on a few months after.

The last few years were incredibly stressful, painful, and expensive for the family. It was great we had her as long as we did, but I frequently wonder if the last few years we had her were worth everything it cost us.

/r/Showerthoughts Thread Parent