I bet you didn’t know that the war for independence is being fought on a daily basis throughout our glorious country. From the time we are born until the time we die, each of us strives to assert our independence. Once the toddler learns to run, he insists on running wherever he wants to. As he ages, we foster his need to be independent and teach him to use it wisely and appropriately all the while, chaperoning him to assure his safety.

Eventually, the toddler grows to be a man, independent in every sense of the word and responsible for his actions. He raises his family, starting the cycle anew. As the man ages, his abilities diminish. His hearing is not as good. His vision is not as good. His reaction time and mental abilities may diminish as well. With advanced age, he becomes like the young man. His independence, which he is fiercely proud of, becomes threatened.

Hard of hearing with poor vision, the old man’s body begins to falter. Agility is a thing of the past. Walking upright without falling becomes a task. The old man now resembles the toddler. Just as the toddler needs close supervision, so does the old man. The difference is that the toddler knows he cannot drive. The old man insists he can. He is a safe driver. He doesn’t go very far from home. He has to drive to maintain his independence. He would never think of taking a cab. Taking a cab costs money!

The war of independence begins. Parent becomes child and child becomes parent. The old man’s children tell him he can’t drive. He says he passed the eye test, he can drive. The children tell him there is more to driving than seeing. They tell him he can’t hear. He insists he can. He can hear the T.V., but so can the neighbors three houses away.

The old man says he doesn’t want to be a burden. He insists he can live alone, care for himself, cook, and drive. His insistence on being independent, when clearly he can no longer be independent, becomes a burden on his children. The thing he wants most, independence, is worth fighting for. He starts fights. He gets angry. He pushes those who love him away.

Fighting for our independence is engrained in all of us. Age brings wisdom but advanced age often steals wisdom. False bravado, compounded by visual and auditory deficits, puts the elderly at risk. Add slow reaction times, arthritic joints, muscle wasting, and memory deficits and you have a perfect formula for disaster.

Unfortunately, there are no winners in this age old fight for independence. The elderly will eventually succumb to the degradation of their body by the aging process. They will struggle to stay independent and, in the process, lose their dignity.

The children who must become the parents of their parents in order to protect them will find taking their parents’ driver licenses away to be an arduous, thankless task. They will find that fighting to protect their loved one causes tremendous emotional pain to them and their parents. They will try to pass the buck to their siblings. As things deteriorate with age, choices will get harder. Nursing homes, twenty four hour in house care, and hospice all have serious drawbacks; all cause further emotional upheaval.

The life cycle goes on everyday across the world. If I live long enough, I’m sure I’ll end up in diapers again. What can we do when it’s our time? When it’s our time to be a parent’s guardian, we can remember that it is important to let our elders make as many decisions for themselves as safety allows. Much like you do in raising an infant, we have to remember to foster our parents independence as safety dictates.

As elders, we should recognize that the day will come when we cannot drive. We should embrace age and accept help, recognizing our limitations. Hopefully, when my time comes, I will not fight the war of independence but instead capitulate to the ravages of age and keep an “attitude of gratitude” for the things I can still do. I am sure I will be grateful for my loving family and for Depends.

Stewart Segal is a family physician who blogs at Livewellthy.org.

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