Today is my Grandpa Leon's 88th birthday!
It has been 9 years since he lost his wife, my beloved Grandma Ione, and a year since he was diagnosed as having the beginning stages of Alzheimers. His memory and ability to recall words has deteriorated and his frustration with it has become evident. While I haven't been on the receiving end of anything but cheerful dialogue, I know he is lashing out at the world as a result. He is frustrated and angry and grieving the losses he is faced with because of this disease.
Today, I called him to wish him a Happy 88th Birthday...I said "Hi Grampy, this is Zip" (his nickname for me since I could walk) so that he wouldn't have to try to recall my voice, but mostly so that I wouldn't have to be sad if he didn't. He knew in an instant and said "Hello Zip, how goes it with you?"
I asked him how things were going with him, he told me he wasn't going to be able to drive anymore. I told him I would be happy to be his chauffeur anytime he needed a lift. He told me about all the times he "carted me around town" when I was little. I added it was about time I repaid the favor and he laughed.
He asked if we were still thinking about moving to Georgia and how Jon's job there was going. I told him we were taking things one day at a time. In the very next sentence he struggled, and ultimately failed, to recall the name of the state we may end up living one day, so I helped him remember. My stomach dropped and I got sad for a moment because it was evident that his memory was betraying him more often now.
Then, as though he knew I needed a moment of reassurance, he told me the VFW story when I was 4 years old, drinking a Shirley Temple at the bar and told him "this sure is good booze Grandpa". He didn't remember the word Georgia, but he remembered an afternoon, 34 years ago, just the two of us, chatting over a "cocktail" at the Post.
Thank you God for moments like this.
I know one day his memory will fail him completely and he won't be able to tell the story anymore or remember the characters...
Today, I absolutely and completely delighted in his telling me again.
2 comments:
You made me cry but it was a really good thing - He repeated the story again to us last night when we took him out for a birthday dinner and he remembered every one of the details as if it happened yesterday. While this awful disease does rob your memory, they tend to be able to hang on to old memories easier than new - Thank God for that! (your writing skills are superb honey!)
love you, Lisa!
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