Caregiving Story

I'll never forget what it felt like when my grandmother yelled at me to put powder on her. She laid in that hospital bed when I was 15-years-old, and she didn't know who she was or who her four grandchildren were. Just a month before she was diagnosed with lung cancer (what a blow). We were told she didn't have long to live and they were right. So the doctors sent her home to die. We got the call that she had less than 24 hours to live and if we wanted to say goodbye, we needed to get there quickly. When we walked in, we saw that her very small body that once was big, has withered away. She smiled at us as we walked past her bed. She had not made any expressions in a few weeks. So we knew it would not be long before she passed on. My sister took her hand and as we stood there Grandma took her last breath. As heartbreaking as it was, I would not trade that day for anything in the world. I now love to work with the elderly. I see my grandmother in every elderly person - they should all be loved and receive the care they need.