Heart wreching retaility of our parents as we get older!

How I wish I could turn back the clock to when I was little and everything was so simple and my father was still well and was the hard working man of our family. How hard it is still to this day to see him in a nursing home and not being able to take care of himself. Oh we tried to take care of him at home. My sister took him in after his girlfriend had died and there was many years of silence between us all. He had a stroke many years ago and had kept us at arms length. He became very distant and withdrew from our tattered family.  After years of being married to our mother he decided to take a different path to life and our family suffered. I became angry and bitter at his careless acts of LOVE for his kids. How could he walk away and be with another women and not want anything to do with his kids? My heart was broken and shattered. The man I once looked up to and longed to have a relationship with was nothing but a distant memory. My sisters and brothers moved on and I had not seen or talked to my dad in years until there was a house fire that killed his girlfriend and burned him on his hands and face. I will never forget that long drive as my sisters and I took to go be with him in this time of mourning. I was a Christian now and really prayed  for strength as we were gonna see are dad after many years of silence. As we walked up to the door my heart was racing would he let us into this world that we were not apart of? Would he want us to comfort him? As the door opened and I saw this man once strong and proud, hurt and crushed and in that moment my heart was filled with compassion for him and I wanted to hold him and take away all his pain and misery. He let us in and ended up moving back by us. I wish the story ended here and we lived happily ever after but it doesn't.  We thought everything would fall into place and he would be happy only to find that our father that we once knew was not the man that stood before us. His life had taken him down a path of heartache and pain and we could not heal those wounds. He has chosen to keep all his anger and pain and still keep us at arms length. Oh how my heart has hurt for him and how I want to hold him and tell him to let it all go. But the harsh reality is we cant. He is the one choosing to be the way he is and to hold onto all the things that has caused him to become a bitter man. My prayer for him is this... Father God wrap him in your arms and let him see YOUR love for him that YOU can take away all his pain, all his disappointments.  I pray Father God that he finds YOUR salvation and turns from his own way in Jesus name! He is still here on the earth and hope has filled my heart that one day he will see the truth and embrace it with everything he is. But until then we pray and seek strength from our Heavenly Father as HE takes our hands and walks us through this tough season of our lives.... HIS love is what binds us together and keeps us strong... NEVER give up hope and always trust in the heart of your HEAVENLY Father!!! His love will always remain no matter what.