FULL CIRCLE

This weekend I had the occasion of having to assist in the care of my grand mother. I mentally debated this idea in my mind. My grandmother is in the early stages of dementia. So she is not competent. She has to be told when to eat, when to go to the bathroom and treated as if she was a child. At times she will act out because of her current state of mind. This worried me because I was not prepared to see my grandma like this. We called her madea. She practically raised me. She was a very strong. So it was hard for me to imagine me having to treat my grandma like a child. But my mom & dad having been caring for her full time for the last 6 months so they really needed a break. So I prayed & put my big girl shoes on & drove to Modesto. My grandma was lying in the bed & she looked so fragile. She saw me & had the biggest smile. She was on her best behavior. I just feed her & talked to her. She seemed happy to have me there which made me happy. When it came time to put her in the bath I was nervous. I ran her bath & left her to her own devices. But then I heard the water draining out of the tub so I went to check on her & she had accidentally taken the plug out. She began apologizing but I eased her my mind & told her I would take care of her. As I sat there bathing my grandma tears began to sting my eyes. I realized all the years she had taken care of me now it was my turn to take care of her. It brought me so much joy to know that I was able to do for her what she was sometimes unable to do for herself. So with mother's day approaching I realized the best gift I could give was to always be there for my mothers. My mother, grandmother & mother in law anyway I can. God has blessed me with some great ones & I will never take them for granted.

Shalonda