Yesterday I went to the nursing home to visit my grandma. She just got out of the hospital recently where she had some serious operations. I wanted to surprise her after work, so I stopped by for a quick visit. When I got there, she was happy to see me. We hugged, kissed and exchanged greetings. Then I heard a woman crying. It was my grandma's roommate. The curtain was drawn so I could not see her. She started calling out a name that wasn't mine but she was certainly talking to me, begging me to go to her side of the room. I ignored her at first and continued visiting with my grandma. Then she started begging and saying, "Please, come to see me!" So I went to see her. When I drew the curtain back, she looked so old but flashed me the biggest smile! She opened her arms wide for me to hug her so I bent low and gave her a hug. I sat on her bed and talked with her for a few minutes. She kept calling me by the other name but I did not correct her. She told me stories as if I had been there when they happened. Finally I went back to visit with my grandma. Then the woman started crying again, saying, "Please, come back." She finally slept. I stopped by the nurse's station and the nurse told me that the lady suffers from Alzheimer's. I mentioned the name she had called me. The nurse told me it was the lady's daughter's name. Then I understood why she wanted me to go to visit her. We will all get old some day. Some of us will have broken minds like he lady and some of us will have broken bodies like my grandma. As I was leaving I promised I would go back and visit the lady, even after my grandma moves back to her home. Why did the writer's grandma live in a nursing home?
Because she needed another operation. Because she had been used to living there. Because she waited for the writer to come. Because she wanted to be looked after there.