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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Surprised (09/06/07)
The earliest memory I have of my grandmother would not be a particular moment in time, but a mannerism of hers that made my brother and I laugh. Her sneeze. Or was it a sniff? She would move her mouth in such a way that it looked as if she was trying to kiss her own cheek. Whilst doing this making an extremely strange noise. Nathan and I would shoot glances at each other and then mimic her as best we could and laugh.
She has always been the quiet grandparent. Her husband being the extreme opposite and seemingly the favorite. Another memory of her is she always wanted the first swallow of my grandfather's ice cold Coors beer. He would open the can and hand it straight to her like an inside joke that they shared, but we all knew as well. It was made sweet by the fact that they were married. Something so trivial was such a connection for them. Or so it seemed to me. They never showed an outward display of affection. So this would suffice for me to know they did love each other very much. She would always give a sheepish grin and say "I love the first swalla", in her soft Texan accent.
My grandfather fell ill and she and my mom where taking care of him. I was around her much more frequently. Still noticing the very quiet way about her. As you grow older you learn more and more about how family is...Things that have happened long before you were born and through this I was able to somewhat understand things better. Extreme hurts and pains that should have never happened did. That causes one to be "bottled up" and unresponsive to love and the like. My grandmother was this way.
She now is suffering from Alzheimer's. She is digressing back into a child like state. At her care home she has a new "boyfriend" (my grandfather has since passed away) and is free to giggle and hold hands with him. So in a strange way with her memory loss she has forgotten that she has been hurt. She had forgotten that people aren't trustworthy. She had also forgotten that people do take advantage of you. And learned that it is ok to show someone how much you like them. Love them.
She has become in a sense innocent. Child like. This is the very parallel of salvation. In this I have learned a very valuable lesson from my extremely quiet Grandmother. Grace is disguised. In Alzheimer's and on a Cross!
Where we least expect it to be, there it is! It is no great surprise that He still uses the foolish things of the world.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ackerson
09/14/07
I had never thought of Grace in connection with Alzheimer's...how very interesting.

Be careful of little errors..."regress" instead of "digress", and in the 3rd paragraph, the references to "you" should be eliminated and changed back to "I". Keep it in first person for maximum impact.

Thanks for this character study--I feel if I know your grandmother!