I'm a bit sad to say that all of my grandparents have officially passed on. On the positive side, most of them broke the 80-year-old barrier. Hardy stock. I'm feeling more relieved than sad at this point. My grandmother had a bad case of Alzheimer's disease. She started to not know who I was 20-years ago. Within 5-years, she was fairly un-recognizable as the Grandmother I knew. Largely because she could not recognize me or anyone for that matter. It seemed that everyone was a new acquaintence to her and that had to get frustrating and confusing. Her personality had obviously changed because of that.
I now understand the phrase, "You are dead to me." By not being able to regularly communicate and experience a person in your life, they are effectively dead. At least in the case of my grandmother it wasn't by her choice. I am relieved for my grandmother. I can't believe that her quality of life was ever the same after Alzheimer's. When my grandfather died a few years ago, I'm not sure she even understood what was going on. It was heartbreaking.
So the actual passing of my grandmother's body is not as shocking or saddening as it could be. It is really her mind that made her the person I remember and that was lost a long time ago.
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