As a little girl growing up in Dumont, New Jersey, one of my favorite memories of my grandfather was when he would walk to Shop Rite, get a shopping cart, and walk back to the house. I remember my brother and me patiently waiting, looking out our bay window for Grandpa to come back and take us for a “ride”. The walk to Shop Rite was probably only a 10 minute walk to get there and back, but for us it felt like forever.
You could hear the shopping cart coming down the street, rolling along the sidewalk, which was paved with small rocks. It was then I could hear “ time to go for a “ride”! As children, of course, we thought of this as so much fun, riding up and down Knickerbocker Road in a shopping cart, laughing, giggling and smiling. Who would have thought that this would just be a wonderful memory so soon? Sadly, my grandfather had a stroke which left him paralyzed on the left side of his body. My mother then became his caretaker, but couldn’t manage on her own for too long. It was a difficult decision, but it came time to send him to a nursing home, where he remained for several years.
I find it ironic that now I work for a Home Health Aide Agency and yet at the time, having a caregiver come into our home was never even considered. I strongly believe that if he had stayed in his own home and had a caregiver care for him, with his family around, he would have stayed with us a little longer.
Unfortunately, he passed November 12, 1992. I was only 12 years old and felt that a part of me left with him. Nevertheless, one great memory that stayed with me was the “ride” in the shopping cart.
Very nice story! It's interesting what things stay with us from our grandparents. Now that I am a grandparent, hearing about the importance of the grandparent/grandchild relationship is even more special.
Posted by: Nick Kirby | September 15, 2011 at 07:14 AM