Reflection: Life and Love

This year was the year that I lost my grandmother and the year that my own mother became a grandmother for the first time. I look back on it now and realize how special life is, how is should treasure my time with my mother, to remember the person she is before it is too late.

My mother was especially touched by my grandmother's death. She went to her funeral and was distraught. My grandmother had alzeihmer's and was progressively getting worse. She declined funtionally and mentally every year to the point that she wouldn't recognise her own children's faces. My mother became saddened by this but she understood it was inevitable. She would visit her every year on her birthday. So her death did not come so much as a shock or as a relief, but simply a loss. A complete loss of my grandmother's being, personality and person as a whole.

I was never close with my grandmother. I vaguely remember her visits to Canada when I was little. What touched me from this experience is how my mother took the loss of her mother. When I see my mother now, I see her in a different light. My mother herself is changing, becoming elderly and fragile. Her spirit and personality are there but it's not the same anymore. I still remember my mommy when I was a child. She was always there for me. She was strong, beautiful, smart. She is still all of those things at the age of 63 but the years have taken a toll on her. I miss how my mother was when I was a child. She still retains that personality and liveliness that she had but she moves with a slower pace; she is more forgetful. I love my mom and I will always remember her lovely personality. So now, I try to visit as much as I can and treasure the time I have. Life is too short.