Originally Posted by ratbastid

What you haven't said is whether they're happy like this. I know they might SOUND miserable. But, you know, some people are really, really happy being miserable.

We get into trouble when we think that our view of how things should be is the only possible view that there is. We start trying to fix things that don't need fixing. You should check it out with them before deciding your parents need something they don't have.