Boyfriend depressed over father's illness-PLEASE HELP!

How can I help and support my boyfriend who is being extremely depressed over father's illness. He rarely wants to talk and when he does, I'm really not sure what is the right thing to say. His dad is not going to get better any time soon. Siblings are dumpling a lot of their bad feeling onto my boyfriend, who I'm afraid, will not be able to hold it much longer. Please advise on some of the things i should/ should not talk about in order to support him best. He says I'm the only person he wants to talk to now and I really do not want to let him down. His ties with the rest of the family are getting weaker cause everyone is overwhelmed. I try to keep things positive when I talk to him, but I don't want it to look as though I'm minimizing the situation.

ugh - family illness - i have lived through that a few times. unfortunately in my family people quarreled and stopped speaking to one another. from what i know, this is not that rare.

sometimes the hardest thing to do when someone like your boyfriend is hurting, is to be quiet and just let them talk. so-called "positive things to say" are sometimes not what they want or need to hear.

it's hard to be quiet when you want to help but sometimes being quiet and willing to listen is the best thing.

good luck to you!