I am sitting here thinking about what I wish to say and nothing is coming to mind.  I spent my day doing things for family members and it has worn me out.  Lately I am spending so much of my free time working to other people's advantage with no real benefit to me in the long run. 
When you do something for a friend, you usually receive some sort of comment to show their appreciation for the effort you have put in.  With family, there is a tendency (with mine anyways) to go unacknowledged and under appreciated. 
Like many, our family is a dual income, no children situation. We both work full time, have aging parents, ill relatives and no real personal life because that is how things have developed.  We have given up our off time to help them, spend time with them or make sure they are ok with no real expectation to be acknowledged.  We do it because we feel that it is our responsibility to aid them as they have aided us through the years.  They have been there for us when we've needed them and now it is time to pay back part of the debt.
Many have felt (and so have we at times) that we are being taken advantage of and we should walk away to persue our own wants or dreams.  As easy as that might be for some to do, it is not for us.
We do have brothers and sisters who have their own lives and families to deal with so the "duty" has fallen on us and we have taken up the challenge because that is the type of people we are.
Some may think we are fools to continue to do this but this is who we are and who we want to be.

We take our family commitments seriously, despite the complaints we occasionally state but one must vent when the frustrations become rather overwhelming.  You choose your friends, sometimes your co-workers and your partners but you cannot choose your family.  You were brought into your family by your parents and I believe it is every child's responsibility to take care of them when the time comes.

You may not like them or get along with them, you may get frustrated with their constant observations and comments, they may be bad people because they drink, do drugs or have a mental condition where they can't remember your name from one minute to to the next.  None of this changes the fact that they are your parents and deserve your patience, help, commitment and compassion.

They were in our shoes at some point, saying the same things about their parents or inlaws that we say about them now.  Again, this does not change the fact that they have earned the right to be a little bitter, frustrated, negative, derogatory, cutting, angry, obnoxious and even senile.  They can say or do whatever they want to because they have paid whatever cost to do it. 

Some might reply that they haven't dealt with the same stresses that our generation has.  Really when you think about the years they grew up in, they had things a little tougher than we have.  My father grew up during the second world war, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war with lesser technology that we cannot even conceive.  He recalls having to shovel coal into the furnace to warm the house, using a crank to start your car, no luxury cruise ships or aircraft, milk was delivered to your front door in glass jars and the list goes on. 

All the things that we go through, they've dealt with and overcome.  All the issues that we hear about on the news happened to them too.  The only major difference is they had to wait for TV's to be invented to watch it in their homes. They didn't have nearly half of what we do yet it still isn't enough for us. We always seem to want more.  We crank up the credit cards for the latest phone or computer, we have a higher rate of debt and bankruptcy because they knew the value of a dollar and were willing to take lesser paying jobs to keep a roof over their heads.

I guess what I am trying to get across is this: our parents may annoy and anger us at times but they had a lot harder life than we do.  We must keep that in mind when times are difficult with them because they learned the right way and the hard way.  They paid their dues and can now enjoy the fruit of their labours.  One day we may realize that and treat them as they should be treated, with respect and admiration. Thnk about that and make up your own minds. It's your call how you wish to deal with things.