Spent a couple of hours with my grandpa tonight, my sister and I took him out to a nice meal and then after dropping him off at his assisted living residence at his request I stayed for a bit to talk. As usual he was heavy on the “going home” talk. It is a learned skill to listen to endless stories…over and over about his plan to leave in “just a couple of weeks.” While I would love to help gramps return to the life he once knew; the life where he was happier and had more freedom, the fact of the matter is that world doesn’t exist anymore. Tonight he told me emphatically that he doesn’t have Alzheimers, he just has the “normal” memory loss that everyone has at his age. This is coming out of the mouth of the guy who at dinner salted his salad no less than 4X because he kept forgetting he had. He also started the discussion on moving back home at least 5X tonight as if he was telling me for the first time.
I keep telling myself that this is a marathon not a sprint…that our family needs to continue to learn new skills and adapt to his progressive disease. I am doing my best to learn along the way from the “experts,” from others who have traveled this way before us. God knows this man has given so much to our family, so much to me personally…the very least I can do is to honor him by listening to whatever he wants to say to me no matter how many times I have heard it before.
night I watched: 
After several months of prayer and seeking wisdom from trusted friends & mentors I’ve decided to move back to Michigan.
