THE SIMPLE LIFE

GRANDPAS

Saw grandpa today. Really could see that he loved grandma and treated her well although he’s not the type to show his emotions. No crying. But he caressed her cheek and chin as she laid there while he placed a rose between her hands and just before they closed the casket, he bent over to give her a kiss farewell. There’s something about seeing the simple acts of love of a man for his wife expressed by my 91 year old grandpa that just breaks my heart.

Honestly, after 60 some-odd years of marriage, how will he handle being alone?

He can’t remember any details like what we just ate and yet, when we bring him back to the nursing home, he remembers which way the double room is that they stayed in prior to my grandma passing away and where the single room is he has to stay in now. He also remembers what day she died and the exact time too. And they say that Alzheimer patients don’t have short-term memory. I don’t believe that he forgot for a single second that she’s gone.

He even asked us for 20 dollars for entertainment because he doesn’t know where grandma placed all their savings.

I’m trying to hold on to every minute detail that I can about our time together. How soft his hands are. And how cold they are unless I warm them in my own hands. How when I kissed his hand, he kissed mine back. How he kissed me on the cheek when I asked for it in return for the 20 dollars and how he giggled like a schoolboy afterwards.

How as we walked to the car holding hands, he said that we were on a date and how he commented on us being 2 couples when he saw my parents up ahead holding hands too.
I’m trying to burn into my memory a picture of how his face lights up when I give him a kiss on the cheek and all the advice that he was willing to impart to me.

Everyone’s concerned about him now that my grandma’s gone. I’d like to think of him as the fighter that he’s always been; that he’d surprise us all. But a part of me can’t help but wonder as I see his shoulder droop lower and his spirited personality becoming more subdued as we return him back to the nursing home. Will this be the last time I get to interact with him? I hope not. He’s the only grandpa I have left. I miss my other grandpa so much right now…hard to believe it’s already been more than 5 years.