Took Jacob to see his great-grandma yesterday. She’s 96, and dementia has done what dementia does — but she looked happy. Content. That’s the best you can hope for at this point! She always asks about Jacob, so it felt right to bring him along. We parked their wheelchairs next to each other it was two people at completely opposite ends of life, both just existing in the same moment. No grand interaction, no big emotional scene. Just two sets of eyes taking each other in. Somehow that was enough. My dad was there, and at some point he was feeding her and feeding Jacob at the same time — one on each side of him, doing his best. He’s so goofy about it, it was just really, really wholesome. My mom mentioned that when he visits, he’s the only one who actually gets involved in the activities. The games, the exercises, all of it. He just jumps in. Apparently he’s a bit of a fixture there now. I don’t know, there’s something that hits different about watching your dad step into that caretaker role. He shows up for her the way she probably showed up for him a long time ago. Watching him take care of two generations at once, one tiny old lady and one tiny little kid, was one of the sweeter things I’ve seen in a while. I haven’t visited in a couple of years. I should fix that.
-Alex