John,

I am so sorry to hear this, but if his mind is slipping into dementia, then I hope he goes sooner rather than later.

I know you want to hang on to him, but if he can't appreciate life anymore, and those who love him have to sit there and watch him and everyone around him suffer, then I just hope you all don't have to suffer for long.

Hang in there.  I lost both my mom and my step-dad sometime back.  It's never easy, in fact it hurts like hell, but both times I found myself being glad that they were past pain and suffering, even though I knew that the pain of missing them would go on for the rest of my life.

Could be worse, could be raining.