It’s been two years since my grandma passed. I remember how hard it was being in the thick of it, taking shifts and constantly watching her. I wanted to share a little bit of light from the other side.
My grandma ("Momo") passed away in July 2024. When she was declining, my family was in the trenches. We were taking shifts, constantly watching her, and dealing with the exhaustion and heartbreak that everyone in this sub knows all too well.
During that time, I sat down with her to try and capture her stories. Because of the dementia, it took over an hour of gentle guiding and conversation just to get these 5 minutes of clarity where she talks about how music got our family through hard times.
As her mind slipped towards the end, she lost a lot of her music and would play the same 3 songs on a loop for hours. She always swore she needed sheet music to play. But what was a real trip was that she would stare intently at a completely random, incorrect piece of sheet music (like she is in this video), squint at it, say "Oh, that’s Kumbaya," and then just start playing from memory. I’m sure she would have gotten a huge kick out of realizing she was playing entirely by feel!
When you are in the thick of the shifts and the stress, it feels like it will never end. But two years later, having this 5-minute video of her voice, her quirks, and her laugh means the absolute world to me.
If you are exhausted today, I see you. Hang in there. And if you have a good day with your loved one, try to hit record on your phone. You will treasure it forever.