Today he still knows my name, but it’s possible that tomorrow he won’t. We’re already to the point where our conversations no longer make sense. I don’t want to upset him, so I act normal when he tells me that the president is coming at 2 o’clock; And when he says he’s going to buy a new house for his mother to live in, I act as if I don’t know that she’s been dead since before I was even born.
It is an aggressive form of Alzheimer’s that is rapidly taking my grandfather away from me. This once tough and tall man, who ran his own construction company for as far back as I can remember is being carried away in his mind to a place that I can no longer reach. Other than the fact that he sits these days much more than he stands, on the outside he still looks the same, but inside is a totally different story. While I’m thankful to still have him here, in many ways I feel as if he has already left.
“All good things must come to an end” was what he said to me when I saw him last. And, he’s right; everything that is good does one day come to an end. And now the signs are there that one of the truly good things in my life is slowly slipping way. New people may enter, people who inspire me, who may even become my new representation of strength and constant support, but no one will ever replace him.
And so granddaddy was right…’all good things do come to an end’...I just wish this were turning out to be a much happier one.
Followers
