The document is a letter from a parent to their child about caring for them in old age. It asks the child to be patient, listen, and help the parent as the parent once did for the child. It acknowledges that the roles will eventually reverse and the parent will rely on the child for care, just as the child relied on the parent when young. The overarching message is to care for aging parents with compassion, as they once cared for you.

1.  Click

2. Dear son , dear daughter...

3. The day when you will find that I became very old , try to have some patience to me and try to understand me.

4. If I get dirty by eating … If I have some difficulty dressing… be patient! Remember the hours that I spent to learn you any sorts of things when you were small.

5. If I repeat the same thing dozens of time, does not interrupt me! Listen to me! When you were small, you kept asking me to read you the same history, evening after evening, until you fall asleep. And I made it !

6. If I do not wash myself any more so often under the shower, do not reprimand and do not tell me that it is a shame. Remember how many excuses I had to invent to make you take a bath you were small.

7. By seeing my ignorance towards the new technologies, do not laugh of me but leave me rather the time to understand

8. I taught you so many things indeed to eat well …to dress well… to behave well… how to confront the problems of the life …

9. If I sometimes miss memory or am not able to follow a conversation, leave me the necessary time to recollect and if I do not reach there, do not become a nervous and arrogant person because the most important for me,… it is to be with you and to be able to speak to you.

10. If I refuse to eat, do not force myself ! I know very well when I am hungry and when I am not hungry. .

11. When my poor legs will not allow me any more to move as before …

12. … Help me in the same way as I held your hands to learn you make your first steps.

13. And when one day, I shall say to you that I do not want to live any more … that I want to die, do not get angry … because one day, you will also understand !

14. Try to understand that at certain age, we do not really live any more. We simply survive!

15. One day, you will understand that in spite of all my errors, I always wanted what was best for you and that I prepared you the ground for when you’ve grown up.

16. You do not have to feel sad, unfortunate or incompetent in front of my old age and of my state. You have to stay near me, try to understand what I live, to make your best as I did at your birth.

17. Help me to walk, help me to end my life with love and patience. The only way that I need to thank you for it, it is a smile and a lot of love from you.

18. I love you …my son, my daughter! Your Dad, your Mum

19.   To close the music and leave this slide show. I received this slide show of a person who asked me to translate it into English. It was not signed; I ignore the author. I offer it to you to all because I found it really touching. It should be the same thing for you!