You were sitting across from your dad at dinner and he told the same story twice in twenty minutes. Or your mom couldn't remember the name of her neighbor, the one she's known for fifteen years. You smiled and moved on, but the thought was already there, quiet and unsettling in the back of your mind: Is this something? That question, is this normal or is something wrong, is one of the most anxiety-producing things about watching a parent get older. You don't want to overreact

You said yes when your parent needed help. Maybe it started small driving them to appointments, checking in more often, helping manage their medications. And then gradually, without anyone really deciding it, you became their primary caregiver. You're still working. You may still be raising kids of your own. You're answering texts at 10 p.m. and lying awake running through tomorrow's logistics in your head. And if someone asks how you're doing, you say "fine" because what els