Whenever I enter my great-grandmother’s room, the smell of old blankets and the warmth of the floor heater becomes alive in my memory and make my heart warm. My great-grandmother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, is the person who taught me what love is.
My oldest memory begins with hiding behind my great-grandmother’s back. After visiting an old temple, my mind was full with the images of scary looking ghosts and the saints. Being only a four year old child, I hid in my strong and loving protector’s arms feeling safe behind her large back. My great-grandmother started to foster me since I was a two-year-old, right after my mother left my family. I loved her. Rather than playing with the kids around my house, I preferred to wait for my father with her watching the sunset.
“My child, come and eat!” I always knew what she made for me, since it was my favorite food. Even though the menu was the same all the time and had no meat in it, the food was always so delicious, filled with her love. Nevertheless, I was not the best-behaved kid. After I finished the bowl, my little game with great-grandmother started. I spilled the sauce bottles, broke her dishes, and made every room dirty. Even though it probably made her mad, she did not punish me at all. Trusting that she would never punish me, I started to ignore what she thought more and more as I grew older.
By the time I finished fifth grade, my family immigrated to Nicaragua. Nicaragua, the country with warm temperatures all year long, took care of my old great-grandma’s health. At the same time her brain slowed down. She, unfortunately, started to lose her mind due to Alzheimer’s. As I watched her growing weaker day by day, my sorrow grew. How can she lose her mind? The wisest, most loving lady who fostered me was about to lose her memories and forget my name. By the time my we moved to the Nicaraguan countryside, the cursed disease had taken over my great-grandmother’s brain completely. Being the only one in the house, I had to be her caregiver.
All of my protector’s features were gone. Her strong arms withered to bones and her large back shrank. My great-grandmother, however, still murmurs the last things that she is holding onto in her life, “My child, did you eat? My child, watch out!………” Yes. Even though she lost all her abilities to reason, she still loves me. My heart fills with warm, fresh sunshine whenever she calls my name. Now, when I look at myself, I am not the kid who was hiding behind my great-grandmother’s back anymore. She is the one who needs help now, and I can give that help to her.
My great-grandmother sacrificed her last conscious years willingly to care for me. Because of her, I was able to grow in safety, care, and love. If there is one value that is most important, over intellect, prosperity, and popularity, it is love, which fulfills us.
