All my life I've been captivated by the stories that have taken place at different stages in Grannie Annie's life: her childhood, young adulthood, middle and old age. Hearing them from her now, at 85 years old... it's like witnessing the full circle of a life.
I've noticed in filming her over this past year that holding a conversation with her is sometimes challenging - she'll start to talk and within a minute loop back on the conversation and start it again from the top. Other times she'll go off on a completely unrelated topic from which we started. She can't always tell you what happened 30 minutes ago, but she can tell you every detail of exactly what she was wearing the night she met my grandfather at a barn dance in Seguin, Texas nearly 70 years ago.
Last night, my sister-in-law, Donna, and I had a heart to heart. Donna has a bit of knowledge about Alzheimer's and some of the things she said ring true for Grannie Annie. I'm not well informed on Alzheimer's so I don't want to jump to conclusions... but it forced me to confront the reality of Grannie Annie's current physical and mental health.
I slept last night with a heavy heart with this conversation weighing on me. But it did make me extremely grateful that I had begun filming her and her beloved stories when I did. Before she went to bed I curled up in her lap as she sat in her rocking chair and asked in a small voice, "Grandma, tell me a story." On the spot she invented a story about how she had a little baby girl and when she grew up, a little elf brought that little girl her very own magical baby girl. I cried as she spoke and prayed that the moment would never end.
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