When Did My Mom Get Old

My mom got old this year. She is 96, but she wasn't old until May. She turned 96 in November, and she wasn't old. She could carry on a good conversation, she was very funny. She loved to laugh. She used a cane, but could still walk. She insisted on cooking a green bean casserole for Thanksgiving. She was "elderly", but not old.
In May, she had a small fall and broke her arm. She was in the hospital for 2 days, on Morphine for the pain, then went to a Nursing home for rehab. It was like she was mentally on the edge of a cliff and the hospital stay just pushed her over the edge. She became old. She knows her family, and she remembers a lot of things, but she also "remembers" a lot of things that are not at all true. At first it was ok. She was not herself, but she was still funny and mostly cheerful.
When I visited her a few weeks ago, she was not in her room, and no one knew where she was. The nurses said that she is always on the move, and they helped me look for her. She was in a wheel chair, but she kept her feet moving all the time, traveling around the nursing home, visiting in other rooms. When we found her, she was delighted to see me, and said that a woman came in on a bicycle and told her to get on the back, she was taking here to JC Penney to get a hair cut. When they got there, the lady was too busy, so mother spent the night in the apartment that they have at Penneys.
She has been confused about where she is. When we visit, we usually go into the large sitting area, which she thinks is her living room. One day, she said that every time she leaves the house, GrandDad rearranges the living room, that he moved the book shelves to that wall and she doesn't like it. She said that she is going to get JoAnne (one of my sisters) to help her put things back like they were. She thinks that the people in the home are visiting her. One day she told me that they have too many people coming over. She said they came home from the store one day and the whole church choir was there. She told my dad that they didn't have anything to feed them, but he had Dr.Pepper's for everyone. She has been funny and charming. The employees at the home love her and enjoy her. They began to give her laundry to fold so that she would stay in her room (it didn't work, she still was on the go a lot of the time). On one visit, I sat on the bed and helped her fold sheets and towels. She said that she had a LOT of laundry to fold, because Granddad and the neighbors were bringing the wash for her to fold.
One day, she told my daughter that she was tired of all of the old free loaders that she was having to take care of, that she was going to tell the nurse to get that freeloader out of the spare room because she was tired of taking care of her.
Visiting her has not been too hard. It has been somewhat sad, but I could see the humor and focus on that.
She has continued to decline. She is not getting around much now, and she doesn't talk much. She seems to spend her days just sitting in a wheel chair or lying in the bed. We visited her Saturday, and it was overwhelmingly sad. She still knows me. She was glad to see me and asked how I was able to get away by myself, without the kids. I just told her that the kids were all busy, not that they have all been married for years.
She had a stiff neck, and while I rubbed it, she seemed sad, and she said, "I lived long enough to see all of my grandchildren get married."
I know that being old is part of life, and I tell myself that. My hope and prayer for several years is that my parents would not just slowly fade away. It is very sad to see that happening to my mother.
She has always been a woman with tremendous energy, full of zest and enthusiasm. She was always laughing. She still smiles often, and she lights up when her family comes in, but her mind is confused and reality is slipping away.
One thing I am VERY grateful for is that I have sisters who live close and are able to visit daily, and take my Dad to visit often, as long as he is up to it.