My grandfather was a very intelligent man. He built clocks and knew almost everything about anything. I look up to him so much. He is my hero.
A few years ago I found out that my grandfather was diagnosed with dementia. Dementia is a disease where your brain slowly becomes dysfunctional. When I found this out I was only 10, so I wasn’t aware of what was yet to come. My grandfather never really changed until the summer of 2007.
The first thing that happened was when he forgot who my grandmother was. Every time I would visit, he would walk up to me and ask me who the lady in the kitchen was. “How could he forget his own wife first?” I would ask myself. He would search the house and ask everyone a way to get out of here and away from her. Eventually he believed us and remembered who she was.
My grandfather now is getting worse and worse. The only person who he does remember is my grandmother. He can’t walk at all any more; my uncles practically carry him from room to room. When my uncles go to work my grandmother has to carry him. Since my grandmother is not very strong, my grandfather fell a few months ago. He cracked his head open and had to get stitches. I was terrified that he would fall again and not live.
Today, my grandfather is very ill; he only eats half of a meal a day because he doesn’t know when he is hungry. Last weekend I saw my grandmother changing his shirt and you could see the outline of every single bone. When I saw this I wanted to cry.
I don’t really understand how you know someone all your life and the next day they don’t remember who you are. I don’t understand that he doesn’t know when he’s hungry or that he doesn’t know when he has to go to the bathroom, but I do understand that even though my grandfather forgot who I am he still loves me.
I try to go to my grandparents at least once a week so I can see him before him time ends. I believe that you should spend every moment with the ones you love because you never know when they will be gone. I believe that you can love someone so much that even if they forget who you are you know they still love you.
I will never forget who my grandfather was; a kind, caring, giving, loving, and the smartest man I knew; the best grandfather a kid could ask for. He will always stay in my heart and will always be my hero. I believe in never letting the ones you love go.