by hunnish » Thu Dec 26, 2013 2:14 pm
Yesterday my family went to my maternal grandparent's house for Christmas dinner, as usual. For their gift this year, we commissioned a water color painting of their recently deceased lab based on a picture I took of him. I'd never seen them like a gift so much; my grandma just held the painting and smiled for about 15 minutes.
Not an hour later and she was talking to my sister's fiance about the painting, but telling him how she thought she remembered seeing it around the house. Someone must have taken it before and she was very glad that my mother brought it back to her. My mom has been dealing with them a lot in the past few months as they tried to get a new puppy to replace their old one, but couldn't keep up with its need for exercise. She's always said that the grandmother that I know is nothing like the mother she had growing up. I had assumed it was just old age calming them down, but recently it's become more clear that they're less and less involved in reality. It's difficult to see them like that when I remember them always being at birthdays, Christmases, and each weekend when we'd drive up to visit them in the country.
They're still competent people, but it's clear that some dementia is setting in.