So my trip was cut a little bit short since my grandfather is in the hospital. My dad let me know that he was in the ER and being admitted on Saturday, but since there was no medical emergency I figured I would just leave first thing on Sunday. My grandfather had been increasingly erratic, wandering, and falling and he needed to be under a watchful eye that was just too much for my parents. Papa has been needing a lot of care from my parents lately, and it is very hard on them because they both work full time. He didn’t have a stroke, but he is dehydrated so they are keeping him in the hospital so they can fill his tank back up. He’ll also be going to some kind of care facility because his needs are outside of what my parents can provide. Papa has lived with my parents for many years now – around 5 I think.

When I visited him I was prepared for the fact that he would not quite be himself. He was very happy to see him and seemed more or less like himself in some ways. In other ways not so much, his upstairs is definitely not in working order. The conversation was quite normal sometimes, and then I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about at all. He told me many times though, as he always does, that he is so happy to be alive, how much he loves his family, and how he wonders how this whole world came to be. I can remember talking with him as a kid about how the world came to be, so it’s an old comfortable subject. He kept on referring to me as his daughter – his favorite daughter (but then said he told each of his daughters that! ;) ) so I’m not sure he quite knew who I was, but the smile on his face when I came in, and him telling me how much he appreciated me coming really is more important than who I am in at this point. It brings him joy and I’ll take that. :)