OK, I haven't become the full time carer that some people are but the events of the last few days have given me a glimpse of how things might develop over the coming months and years.
A week last Sunday was the last day of paternity leave - we had a baby girl. Whilst driving to Oxford to see my sister-in-law's baby - a boy who had been born that day (yes, our family is populating the world at speed :-))- I received a call from my brother informing me that my mother had suffered a mild stroke.
I was surprised at how upset I got on hearing this - despite the fact I was told mum got to hospital quickly and was OK. She has since been making a good recovery and is now back at home.
However, she was in hospital for a week which meant I stayed with my father and took him to hospital in the evening. I work away from home and our office is close to where my mum and dad live so helping out was easy to do.
My mum is in her late 70s and my father in his early 80s - they had us two boys late in their life (I'm in my late 30s and brother early 40s).