Dear Prudence,
My father is in his 70s. He is in great physical and mental condition. However, when he eats, he seems to have a habit of wanting to talk immediately after putting a lot of food in his mouth, and the food often falls out on the table or clings to his lips and it’s pretty disgusting. He’s been eating this way for a while, and I think he would be embarrassed if he was made aware of how grotesque he looks when he eats. Should I try to ignore it and accept this as part of what happens when you get old? Or is there a way to talk about it without hurting his feelings? I have tried to delicately say something like “Oh, you dropped some food there” when a particularly large chunk lands on the table, but he just picks it up and moves on without seeing the problem.