While You’re Still Here: Honoring My Grandmother and Others With Dementia

¨I was 8. It was a summer afternoon, so hot the air felt swollen, flush with the smell of jasmine incense. I sat on cushions while my grandma knelt behind me, weaving my hair into two thick braids. The setting sun made yellow of her hands, aging her, like the corner of a photo that has discolored over time. We were gossiping about some story or another. And water dripped from the ice in her mouth, muddling her fragmented English. I laughed when she forgot the word for squeeze, and laughed harder when she mimed it instead.

I am 21 now. It has been five years since my grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and in the years since, I have thought often of those small moments. They are reminders of the duty I have to her, to the relationship I must honor, and to the life she still has to live.

Especially on days like today. Today, when she faltered at the sight of me and struggled to . . .¨

https://www.nextavenue.org/honoring-grandmother-with-dementia