[TorqueDog]

My mental health hasn't been this good in a long time (it's been up, waaaaay UP... since getting divorced), but there is something creeping in that I'm concerned about.

My mom visited this weekend with a couple friends, and I took them out to Banff, Lake Louise, and acted as their tour guide. Mom is looking rough, and I don't mean "woke up with a legendary hangover after a three-week bender" rough, I mean she's struggling to get out of chairs, cars, and getting winded / sore during walks around downtown Banff. Yes, that downtown Banff, which -- for the touristy three-blocks we stayed around -- is about as dynamic in its elevation as the Bolivian salt flats. It just kind of punched me in the face -- my mom is really, really old and not exactly doing so well.

She's in her 70s now, BMI is over 35 (and no, she's not a bodybuilder), and I feel like I'm completely powerless to help her get healthier and her longevity is going to suffer. My parents live in Winnipeg and I live here, so I'm not close-by to either lead by example or twist her arm to do something about her situation. She's also developed this really weird and out-of-character resistance to medicine and doctors -- which I somewhat credit my pleasant idiot of a Trump-loving cousin for -- so even just getting her to go talk to a doctor about something to help her weight or her knee (which is exacerbated by her weight) is an uphill battle. My parents' house has stairs, I just worry about how long it is until she can't do them any longer.

I don't know how to impress upon my mom that yes, she has the ability to change her situation, but she needs to take it seriously. It's like everything she taught me growing up, she has abandoned for herself. I have no doubt she could get healthier, she just won't entertain the idea aside from my suggesting she get another dog to take for walks... but then I'm worried the dog won't actually get walked and the fact that they smoke cigarettes in the house borders on animal cruelty, frankly.

Anyone else feel like they've started to become the parent at some point in the lifecycle?