“Want to know how to get rid of a headache? Get rid of your husband!” I will never forget the sense of humor or the childlike qualities my grandmother had.

Two thousand and nine was a year to remember. I was looking forward to a great vacation, but leaving a family member that I might never see again was a difficult thought. The previous summer my parents turned our dining room into a new bedroom for my sick grandmother. She was in the end stages of Alzheimer’s disease. We took care of her day and night for 6 months. My whole family had to adjust to this new living arrangement. She needed constant care. My mom took care of her dressing and bathing and put her back to bed when she tried to get out in the middle of the night. Everyone would take turns feeding her and keeping her company. Little did I know that when I said goodbye to my family when I left for Europe it would be the last time I saw my grandmother.

When I was traveling all over in Italy and France part of me was happy because I didn’t have to worry about “Grandma-Sitting”. When I was home there was no spare time just to be a kid because there was always something that needed to be done for my grandma.

I returned home to the United States rejuvenated and ready to be there every second for my family. When I stepped through the door to my house on that rainy day, I looked over to my left to see a dining room table where a bed had taken its spot for 6 months. I looked up at my parents and they just shook their heads and told me she passed away that Monday. They didn’t want to call me so I wouldn’t be upset for the remainder of my trip.

I thought to myself for a moment that it felt like years. I thought about what I had been through over the past 6 months as well as what my mother went through. I thought about the good and the bad. During those six months, it seemed to move as slow as molasses and looking back it didn’t to seem to go all that slow. My grandmother filled me with many memories and lots of laughter. It seems like it all came and went like the blink of an eye.