I fully believe so, death is a release from all pain almost no matter what spiritual standpoint you take.
Me too. I watched my grandfather die over a period of 6 months in physical agony. In the end he died of gangrene so bad they couldn't change his bandages without putting him under...
For me the answer is in the question. Q: Is there an all powerful loving God who could easily allow your grandmother to die with grace, but choses to design her, and us all to, as Nietzsche so finely put it...force most of us to have to watch our loved ones forget who they were?
A: No. No...
It's particularly confusing when you read Matthew 7 and find out that waaaay more people are going to Hell than Heaven.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard...
Some religious/spiritual views don't really conflict with the fact that most people, should they live long enough, end up in some state of dementia.
But any religion with a personal, present, active God who watches us all somehow has to rationalize that He/She/It designed us to get dementia.
"I know I used to really like something...what was it...chimichanga...choo choo trains...chimpanzees...chalk...DAMN I CAN'T REMEMBER!"
"It was cheese, dementia mouse, you loved cheese."
"That's right cheese! I hated something too...catalogues...catfish...caterpillers...dammit can't remember..."
***rant begins***
Maybe God should do something about it if he gave a damn. But he clearly won't because either 1) there isn't a God or 2) he is a big fat arsehole who likes to let people watched their loved ones lose all memory of their lives, accuse their loved ones of crazy stuff, and die...
Both of my grandmothers went through this. It's heartbreaking. I'd say it's almost better when it gets really bad and they just don't know what's going on, because in the middle watching them realizing and struggling with it was just brutal. My grandmother would forget my name and then cry...
God used to have a place called Limbo where he sent people with Original Sin who never had a chance to worship Jesus, such as infants or people from some remote tribe in Africa who live under the same tree their entire lives.
Then one day the Pope closed down Limbo like some cosmic Guantanamo...
I'm just rare like a Bigfoot/Nessie baby, I don't look like one! My Uncle Larry with his shirt off at the beach, however, could be confused for any number of disturbing mythical creatures...