Memoir
I cant stand this any more, so I talked to my mother
about what was going on with my grandmother. Mom told me that she is
getting older now, but she will be taking some medicine that will
help her out. I said to her that she needs help because she isn't
acting right. I soon realized that I was not going to figure out what
was wrong with her. Mom gave me partly true ideas that I began to
ponder about. Maybe she is nuts or is she just over protective? I
wonder in the back of my mind is she both? Dementia is a disease that
can bring forth good images and happy thoughts or some of the worst
moments in your life over and over again. Unlucky for her and
everyone around, she was in World War II (in Germany) and all the bad
moments she not only remembered, she saw and believed. I overheard my
mother and grandfather talking about her seeing imaginary people in
the house, like thieves and Nazi soldiers that were after her. I was
young and seeing her like this worried me because I didn't really
understand what was happening. I wish I knew what I know now and
been there to spend time with her in the last moments of her life.
I had never known her without the disease messing up
her mind and making everyone worried about what she will do next. I
have to admit that we all went some what crazy. One night she called
the police for help because she didn't recognize my grandfather and
thought he was someone else. The police showed up and broke down the
front door to get in. My grandfather spent t a few hours at the
police station, until they figured out who he was. Can you imagine
the cops pushing down you grandparents door thinking someone is being
hurt? My parents and grandfather tried to prevent the state from
taking my grandmother after this happened because the state wanted to
put her in a nursing home. I do understand now why they tried to.
We did win out but we knew sooner or later she would be in a nursing
home. Eventually she became to ill for my grandfather to take care of
her, so despite his sadness of letting her go, he put her in a
nursing home.
When we walked into the nursing home to see what it was
like, my grandfather was not happy with the size of the shared room.
He said that the room isn't big enough for his chair and TV, but it
was. He also didn't like the way they mashed up her food. My mother
explained to him that she isn't swallowing correctly, or chewing so
this is best for now. For activities, they were playing Wii, board
games, and old T.V. shows were playing. We did notice they had two
cats and one dog that lived in the nursing home. The two cats were
grey and white and the staff was playing with them too. The dog was a
playful chocolate lab, named Kelly. In the summer they have a garden
full of flowers for everyone to enjoy. When you left the nursing
home you had to enter a set of numbers in order to open the front
door. Mom told me that it kept the other people safe that lived
inside. I said that this is a good idea, but still sad to be locked
inside.
When I finally visited her she was doing well, but she
only knew me half of the time. Can you imagine walking into your
grandmother or loved ones room and they don't recognize you? What if
you heard them say mean things to the staff, like calling a nurse a
fat cow. I thought it was funny in a sad way. One day I was sitting
in her room waiting for my mother and she turned to me and said
“shut-up”. The sad thing was I had not said anything for
like 30 or 40 minutes to her. She soon fell asleep after taking her
medicine. Can you imagine walking into your grandmothers room and
see her curled up like she was going to die any second, a few months
later she was dead.
I walked into the meeting room (funeral) and then I saw
her, she looked like she could get up out of the coffin and say shut
up to me at any moment. I saw people that I did not know. I saw big
flowers and I had no clue who they were from or what they were. There
were aunts and uncles, who were mostly from my grandfather's
family. There were pictures of her when she was young. Then I walked
up to see if there was anyone I knew, but I really only knew a few
people.
Everyone followed the hearse to the cemetery and I was
supposed to help lower her into the ground, but at the last minute I
decided to stay home. I did not want to mess up and accidently drop
her, so I went to sleep. We all hope she is resting in peace.
