Things have to get done, yep. I told my mother that it wasn't exactly that I was happy to be there, nor that I felt obliged; "It's more like doing the recycling - it's something that I just do because it's the right thing to do." She was amused by that comparison!

But yeah, it would be harder for me to take care of my mother in the same way. I was out there helping her out for the first weeks, and after a while I found I had to remind myself "this is for HER, not for YOU. She needs you to do these things, so do them and shut your mouth." And after a while I just exploded, and then I had to apologize. It's not that I don't love her, it's that I get irritated with her faster than I get irritated with my father (just as I get irritated with my younger brother faster than I get irritated with my middle brother).