(This story is an actual book given to me when I was little. Written by Veronique Van den Abeele and illustrated by Claude K. Dubois)
I've known Grandma my whole life. I know a lot of things about her, almost as many as I know about Mom and Dad. And Grandma knows everything about me, like that September is my favorite month and that I can eat 3 whole hot dogs for dinner.
Before I went to school, I could have sleepovers at Grandma's any night of the week. Mom would walk me up to the door, and Grandma would watch at the window. She always pretended she didn't know who I was.
"Is that the mailman?" she would ask in a loud voice.
But then she would open the door smiling and laughing and scoop me up in a big hug. "My sweet Camille!" she would say into my ear.
Her house always smelled good. Like strawberry jam and warm bread.
Grandma and I had our own traditions. First, we looked in her treasure box at the tiny spoons, teacups, and glittery necklaces. Then we would look at old pictures. My favorite is one of Grandma when she was my age, all bundled up in a winter coat, sitting on a sled.
"Is that really you, Grandma?" I would ask her every time. "It looks exactly like me!"
Then we would go out shopping. At the grocery store Grandma would let me get a piece of candy at the checkout. I always let her hold my hand, even though I'm too old for that. Sometimes, we pretended to be famous television chefs. I was the star and Grandma was my assistant. Our specialty was chocolate cupcakes with lots of frosting. We wore aprons and talked in funny accents. Our cupcakes were my favorite! When she tucked me into bed. Grandma would tell stories about when she was a little girl. She had five sisters and five brothers and she was the youngest. Even though her family was poor, Grandma said she always had fun because her brothers and sisters loved to play games and spoil her with attention. Right before we said goodnight, we would give each other our special "loud smacking kiss." We laughed so hard we thought we might wake the neighbors! I never wanted Grandma to leave, so I'd ask her to sing me a song to put me to sleep. She would rub my head as she sang all of the verses to "You Are My Sunshine."
Then, a few months ago, Grandma started acting different.
"Good morning, Susan!" she said when I came over one day.
"Grandma! You know my name is Camille," I said, laughing. I thought she was just pretending to be funny. But later, when I asked to see the treasure box, she looked me straight in the eye and said
"Come on, Daddy, let's go fishing." I knew she wasn't pretending this time. She was confused. I didn't want to make her feel bad, so I didn't say anything.
A few weeks later, we were getting ready to bake cupcakes, and I saw Grandma open the fridge. I thought she was getting out the ingredients. But I saw her put her shoes on the shelf right next to the milk!
"What are you doing?" I asked.
Grandma got a funny look on her face. All she said was "Silly me!" That night Grandma wasn't confused when she was telling me stories about when she was a little girl. But the next morning at breakfast, Grandma poured orange juice on my cereal.
Something was wrong, And I was worried.
We found out that Grandma was sick, but not the kind of sick where you cough and blow your nose.
"She has Alzheimer's disease," The doctor said.
My mom says that's what makes her do strange things.
"But how can she get better?" I asked my mom.
"She won't. You have to learn how to love Grandma the way she is."
I don't have sleepovers with Grandma anymore. Now she lives in a big house with lots of grandmas and grandpas like her. Nurses take care of Grandma because she needs help washing her hair, getting dressed, and going for walks. Grandma doesn't have her own kitchen, just a bedroom, so we don't bake chocolate cupcakes anymore.
I am sad that Grandma has changed so much, but I know that she is sick and she can't help it. And the doctor said the best thing to do is to visit, so I come with Mom and Dad every Saturday. And you know what? Even though most times Grandma forgets my name, we still have traditions. Mom and I bake chocolate cupcakes at home, and I bring grandma the one with the most frosting. When we go for walks, I'm the one who tells stories to Grandma. I talk about my friends from school, and I bring my own treasures, like the bright red leaf I found on the playground and my star-shaped eraser. Sometimes I hold Grandma's hand or sit on her lap when she is getting her hair washed or when she has to take her medicine.
It's true that she's not the same person she used to be, but she's still my Grandma and I love her very much. She loves me too.
I can tell because she still remembers our special kiss.