Did She Know Me? More Nursing Home Drama

04-23-2012 at 11:24 AM 

My youngest son and I walked into the wing and saw my grandmother from a distance with her head down. She appeared to be napping. Everyone was sitting in their designated chairs getting ready for lunch to be served. All the staff was present getting ready to serve. We turned the corner into the dining room and my son started to make some noise to let his great grandmother know he was there to see her. Suddenly out of nowhere we hear a loud “BE QUIET!” Boy, the anger in that voice sounded like it was being disturbed and was slightly familiar. With her head still down the staff started to scold my grandmother for telling her own great grandson to “be quiet”. I was stunned to hear her say that especially when she appeared to be sleeping. Once she was told it was her own family making the noise she tried to regroup from what appeared to be a disoriented state of mind and smiled at us. I purposely asked her if she knew who I was and after a long pause and a confused look on her face she said my name as if I was asking a trick question. She remembered me! And, I was happy to hear that she remembered my mother from the day before.

We brought her a bag of grapes that were wrapped in a paper towel inside the bag. My grandmother did what she does with all the food she smuggles into her room and wrapped the plastic bag in a paper napkin. I didn’t ask why.