My widowed dad lives alone and isolates himself too much.

GRAND CHILDREN AND THE YOUNG ONES IN THE FAMILY DOES SEEM LIKE AN INCENTIVE FOR THE LONGIVITY OF THE ELDERS , GREATER STILL IS THE CHILD WHO CARES ENOUGH TO GIVE GRAND MA/PA A FEW MOMENTS OF THEIR LIVES .

JUST THE FACT THAT SHE IS SO CONCERNED FOR HER DAD .I SEE A LOT OF KIDS WHO ARE SO ENGROSSED WITH THEIR OWN LIVES THAT THEY JUST SHRUG THEIR PARENTS TO THE SIDE . BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAS AT LEAST ONE LOVED ONE LEFT .

The fastest way for us to involve my aging parents was to ask them to attend an event their grandchildren were a part of. A church event, community event or high school event. My 88 year old mother could not wait to go to her youngest grandson's graduation from highschool even though she had not traveled out of her little town for almost three years. Grandchildren can be good motivators for an aging grandparent who is walking through major transitions. Our college age daugther was calling her grandmother once a week to chat on the phone. She would share her projects with her and even explained text messaging to her blind gramma!