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"Family" was a big deal in Kate's home. In fact, every
Sunday Kate and her brothers and sister visited their grandparents. Kate felt
lucky to have the grandparents she had. Her grandmother was a lot of fun and
very funny. She was the kind of grandma who enjoyed giving tea parties and
playing games like Chinese checkers and croquet. In the summer she loved to
look for mermaids in the ocean or build sand castles for princesses, and when
she went swimming, she always wore a bathing cap with big, bright flowers on
it. When Kate took long walks with her, she talked about her "conversations
with the angels." Kate though her grandma was so cool.
As for Grandpa...well, he was a character. He didn't talk to
angels—he talked to God. At least that's what he told Kate. He loved baseball,
classical music, and eating potato chips—lots and lots of potato chips. Most of
all, Grandpa loved to tell all kinds of stories and charmed everyone with his
tales about baseball, his life on a submarine, and riding his bike through
Europe. As her mom often told Kate, Grandpa was "one of a kind." To Kate,
neither of her grandparents seemed old. In fact, she was sure they thought of
themselves as kids. That's one of the reason she loved being with them so much.
One Sunday, while visiting with her grandparents, Kate noted
that her grandpa was repeating the same stories. He kept asking the same
questions over and over. And when she asked him about his day, he couldn't seem
to remember what he'd done. At first Kate didn't think much about it. She knew
some older people had trouble reading, some couldn't hear like they once did,
and some couldn't even walk very well anymore. So, forgetting a few things
didn't seem like a big deal to her.
But one weekend while Kate was making lemonade in the
kitchen, she heard her grandpa banging drawers in the hall and complaining that
he couldn't find his keys. She watched as her grandma tried to tell Grandpa
that he wasn't allowed to drive anymore and that she would drive him to the
store. Grandpa threw down his books, yelled, and then turned and slammed the
door. This behavior wasn't like Grandpa at all! Kate watched as her grandma
stood alone in the hall, put her face in her hands, and began to cry. Kate's
mother rushed in, wrapped her arms around Grandma, and held her just as tightly
as she held Kate when she cried. Kate quietly turned away and went back to the
kitchen to finish her lemonade.
After several more weekend visits with Grandpa, it was clear to Kate that something was wrong with him. She went to her mom and said, "Grandpa keeps repeating himself; he can't seem to remember what he just did. I saw him yell at Grandma, and then this morning he didn't remember my name. Mom," she said, "what's happening to Grandpa?"
