Thanks, Kris! I think my mother's approach was similar to your father's, and it helped her stay focused and believe that she could keep making progress. Granted, she never had a middle-of-the-night "might not make it 'til morning" crisis--that would be very scary but also possibly energizing at the same time.

Another thing I saw last week (this week is Spring Break) is that it's just easier to be positive. I had a patient with extensive bone-weakening due to an advanced cancer. The patient could barely walk after many days of bedrest. But it's easier to stay focused on the future and say "before you start walking at home, make sure your spouse or an aide has moved any throw rugs out of the way so your walker doesn't get hung up." At first the patient was like "I can barely walk one step right now!" but eventually began to embrace the idea that s/he really was working towards walking, and that his/her current situation wasn't necessarily predictive of the whole future.