Quote from piezoe:
When the end is near it is normal to lose interest in the future. And that's quite understandable. Just be there for him. You might be able to cheer him some by getting him to talk about events in his life, if he feels like it. Even when we can't remember what happened five minutes ago we can still remember vividly events of our past, assuming Alzheimer's is not an issue. It's fine to offer to help him get his affairs in order, and to offer help with getting his bills paid etc., assuming he has no close relatives that should be filling that role. Does he have have relatives that should be contacted?
He has a daughter that came out here from Colorado when he was admitted to the nursing home. He still wants me taking power of attorney for him, but now that he is getting sicker I don't know if an attorney will set it up now.
I got a surprise when I went through his documents at his apartment - he was a poet in his younger days. I took some of his writings to him a few days ago and it seemed to cheer him up.