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This is so hard, raeanna, I'm so sorry for your family. We watched both of my paternal grandparents get further and further from themselves as they aged. It got to the point where being around them was really painful. They just weren't the people we knew anymore. He had Parkinsons, and could barely move by the end. She was just old and forgetful and cranky. In the end, death was a blessing for them and for everyone.
On the other hand, there's this: about a month before he died, my grandfather had a bout of pneumonia. Dad checked it out with his doctor--turns out dying of pneumonia is a very peaceful, easy death. He basically offered it to grandfather. He said, look, we can put you on antibiotics for the pneumonia if that's what you want, but you can be out of this thing easy right now if that's what you'd rather. Grandfather chose the antibiotics. Amazing thing--even in that state, where he was disoriented, confused, upset, and weak, he still chose life. Pretty unbelievable. It was another round of pneumonia that got him just a few weeks after that.
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