A nice April day several years back I took Grandma out to get her vitamins. No matter that research showed they were all worthless; Grandma swore to their potency.
Grandma always checked her receipts…but her eyesight wasn’t what it was. When I told her she wound up not being charged for one of the vitamins, she smiled, grabbed my arm, and made for the car.
That was the last time I ever walked with my Grandmother. A few weeks later she had a stroke and never walked again.
I would love to write about how she recovered and we spent more loving years together, but that’s not how it happened. What followed were months of deterioration and heartbreak for those who loved her.
The last time I saw her, she didn’t show any signs she knew I was there. To no longer be loved by the one who loved me the most has been my most painful loss.
Through it all, I kept the memory of that last time out with Grandma; that smile, that pull, arm-in-arm to the car. I have it, and I treasure it. Thank you Grandma, for all your love.
