Yesterday I went to the nursing home to visit my step mom's grandma. When I got there she was happy to see me. Then I heard a woman crying. It was my great 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 definitely talking to me, begging me to go to her side of the room. Then she started begging and saying, "Please, come see me!" So I went to see her. She looked so old and weak 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. Then 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 like I had been there when they happened. Eventually I went back to visit with my great grandma. Then the other woman started crying again, saying, "Please, come back." I stopped by the nurse's station and the nurse told me that the lady was suffering from Alzheimer's. I mentioned the name she had called me. The nurse told me it was the lady's daughter's name. It was a heartbreaking experience but it gave me a new perspective on life. We will all get old someday.Some of us will have broken minds like my great grandma's roommate and some of us will have broken bodies like my great grandma.But what was beautiful was the fact that both ladies,one 86 and the other 90,did not have broken spirits.As I was leaving I promised I would go back and visit the lady,even after my great grandma moves back to her home state. Why was the other lady crying when the author was there?
Because she might have a fear of darkness. Because she missed her daughter very much. Because she was suffering from Alzheimer's. Because she was jealous of the authors' great grandma.