Gavin and I saw many people while we were in Michigan. One of the hardest people to visit is my grandmother. She is suffers from Dementia and several other medical conditions and has been put in a nursing home. I have so many wonderful memories with her as a vibrant fun grandma and now to see her in a wheel chair not knowing what day it is breaks my heart.
When we arrived at the nursing home she had just finished lunch and was watching TV. She knew my mom and recognized me as her granddaughter, but couldn't remember my name she thought I was my sister. I was okay with that she has 7 grandkids and 10 great-grandkids names are tricky. After talking for a while she realized who I was and even told me she didn't like the name for the new baby :)
We were having a great visit until mom had walked out to check on something and I walked out of the room to chase down Gavin, when her nurse assistant walked in and asked her who was visiting her. In the time it took for me and Gavin to walk out and walk back in she looked right at me and said "I don't know them, they are strangers." It took a lot for me to not cry right there in her room.
This woman who sat in the wheel chair is not my grandma. My grandma would play games with me, stay up late and watch movies, sneak candy into the theater, sing as she walked around the house making breakfast, and yell at me when I sat on the bed, because beds were not for sitting chairs were. I want to remember her that way not the way she is now.
She will be 80 years old on November 4th.
I love you Grandma!
