Sunday was great!
It was good to be back at the home ward!
Came home and took a nice..long..nap...
With Oscar of course!
Woke up and headed to Grandpa Albert's.
He lives in a retirement center.
We finished watching one of his favorite cowboy shows and off to dinner!
He had a nice hardy steak dinner.
I sat with him and held his hand.
He has Alzheimer's and so he wasn't 100% sure of who I was or what I was even doing there.
But I hope he felt the love I have for him.
I reminded him of his daughter, Tammy...he remembered her.
He has to! She spends every day with him and shows more love to him that anyone I know.
He would often ask me when I was going to take him home.
This was a difficult question to answer.
"You are home grandpa..."...even though to me....a retirement center and far away from a home.
We went back to his room and finished a movie we had started a few months ago.
My Fair Lady.
Grandpa seemed to understand what was going on when Professor Higgins was trying to teach Eliza Dolittle how to speak properly.
I sat there with him, hand in hand for 2 hours.
It was almost like his dear sweet wife, Rosemary (whom I have yet to meet) was sitting on his other side...holding his other hand.
I guess you could say that I enjoyed a movie with my grandfather and an angel.
He started to doze off towards the end.
We finished the movie and paged one of the sweet nurses.
He asked if my folks were aware of him going to bed.
I said yes.
He asked if HIS folks were aware of him going to bed.
Of course they are grandpa.
Before the nurse could get his PJ's on, he walked me to his door and made sure that I had a way home and that I would be safe driving.
I hugged him and gave him a kiss goodbye.
"I love you Grandpa!", I said.
"And I love you too sweetheart." He replied.
For a second there...I knew that he remembered me and knew that I was his granddaughter and that I loved him dearly.
It was hard for me to leave.
I wanted to watch another movie and hold his hand throughout the night.
I came home.
Sat in my car for a good 5 minutes and had myself a little cry....k maybe it was a big cry.
It had been a while since I had literally cried to a point where I couldn't breathe.
I went inside to my mom.
We sat on the couch and she held me while I cried and cried.
It's hard to see someone who you love so much go through that.
Not knowing where he was.
Not knowing who the strange lady was helping him into bed.
Not remembering if he had already ordered dinner yet.
When I was little, I never took the time to actually sit down and have a good conversation with my grandfather.
Now that I'm 19 and aware of his poor health, I'm taking every chance I can to sit with him.
Even if our conversations consist of "I love you's" or "Do you remember me grandpa?...then a shake of his head." I am more than okay with that.
I want him there for my wedding.
I want him there for the birth of my first child.
Only God knows if that will happen.
I love my grandpa so much.
I will never forget those 4 hours I spent with him on December 18, 2011.
Later that night, Jamo and Els came over.
It was fun catching up with good friends I hadn't seen in a while.
I can't wait for more fun Christmas break memories with Els.
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