August 05, 2003 - 4:24 p.m.
I just returned from visiting my grandparents in Falmouth. Neither of them are the people they were a few years ago. I've been aware for a while now that Granddaddy no longer recognizes me or comprehends that Zack and Marcus are his great-grandsons. But now I believe he also has forgotten my grandmother. He's lost the last vestiges of articulate speech, the ability to walk, and a great deal of fat and muscle mass. He's skin and bones. From what Grandmommy and the nurses say, it seems he sleeps most of the time now. I don't know how much longer it will be.
My grandmother is having some difficulties as well. The air conditioning unit broke earlier this summer and she's been having problems with it ever since. When I called her this weekend, she complained that it was out again. I told her to call the repairman to come look at it. When I asked her about it today (it was stifling hot in the house), she told me that the repairman had just flipped the switch on the thermostat and the a/c worked fine. I went to investigate why the house was still so hot and discovered it was turned off again. Grandmommy is adamant about remaining home rather than moving in with my parents but I am beginning to wonder...
Marcus refused to wear his new shoes to show them off for his great-grandmother. He throws an absolute fit when I try to put them on his feet. Once on, however, they don't seem to bother him at all. I had forgotten about this Getting Used to Shoes phase.
