How did your family handle the last years of a parent?

In this question, Cazzie tells a story of some serious bad feelings that arose between siblings as they tried to care for her mother. In my wife’s family, something similar happened.

My question is open to all, but I am particularly interested in hearing from people who had experiences where good family relations were preserved. In particular, those families whose members live far apart geographically.

How did you manage to keep things civil? How did you organize your parent’s care? How many siblings or grands were involved? How was the work distributed? What issues did you face? How did you resolve them?