Thanks to these adorable kids, Mera and Bowen, for helping their great-grandpa recover from stroke through their special bond with him.
These trio have been the best of friends ever since. Grandpa or ‘pawpaw’ was with them every waking moment since they were born. “They really are best friends…They love to garden together. They love to swing together, to sing together. He just gets down to their level and talks with them,” said one of their family members.
She added, “Even when they were little, he was just rolling on the floor with them and picking them up and it just bonded them.”
This caring great-grandpa was there to witness his great grandkids’ milestones and mundane moments as well. It seemed that this grandpop is the leader of his small pack.
He is a health buff and continued to go to the gym even when he’s in his 90s already. But, things started to turn south, when he had a stroke fall season last year. It was also at that time when it was discovered that he has Dementia which means that he has difficulty remembering things, making decisions, etc.
“He started to have a little bit of memory lapse here and there,” his family member described. She was “worried that that would kind of hurt their relationship.” She added, “We had a conversation with the kids about it and it was silly for us to really worry about it.”
None of their fears or worries happened, because this loving ‘pawpaw’, Mera, and Bowen still got along well. They were focused on living in the moment. “He isn’t worried about all the other stuff. He’s just worried about being in the moment, just the same way the kids are. And that has a lot to do with why they connect so much.”
“After he got to see them, the more he got to see them, it was like leaps and bounds,” she narrated. “I think that kind of brought that to the forefront of his mind of what he had to fight for, and be present for.” This elderly man was able to recover and adjust faster to his new situation and condition through the help of his ‘little best buds’. Just being around them brings sunshine to his life.
Though things will get worse as time passes by especially, for his Dementia, his family treasures what they have now. “But, at this point, he knows who we are, he knows our names, he knows he loves us, he knows we love him, and that is all that matters.”
Guess there are things and most especially, people that the heart can never forget. Memories, time spent with the people we love are definitely, the world’s greatest treasures.
“Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” Proverbs 17:6
