There’s so much about life when you’re young that we don’t yet understand and it’s only as we get older do we start to see the big picture. When you’re little your parents and grandparents seem invincible. They are our heroes, the people we look up to and they are capable of doing anything in our eyes.
What we don’t see is what slowly happens over time when we age. We aren’t aware yet that our bodies and minds start to age as well and in some cases faster due to diseases. It’s a hard fact of life to face as we become adults and start to take care of those who have been taking care of us our entire lives.
And though the roles may change, the love never does. This is what Molly McManimie of Las Vegas wanted to share about her Grandmother.
Her grandmother was one of 3 children and her 2 older brothers both eventually were diagnosed and died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. The family always had a fear that Grandma Betty would succumb to the same disease and unfortunately, their worst fears would come true. Betty started to show signs of the disease and as time has gone on it has affected the things she is able to do and in a lot of cases made them impossible.
It has been a struggle for her children and grandkids to watch their spirited and always on the go grandma decline. Maggie talks about her love of cooking and how she can no longer do it as she will forget key ingredients to recipes. It’s all these little things that we grew up with that are the hardest to acknowledge as our loved ones age. But the kids knew the most important thing was to keep showing up and keep showing their love.
Even with her advancing Alzheimers, the one thing Grandma Betty had continually always wanted was a dog. The kids said that throughout the entirety of her decline the one thing she remembered every day was that she wanted a dog. She also remembered quite well that her husband had always told her no. But her family would not give up as they had always had dogs in their household.
Molly’s family being dog lovers, knew what therapeutic benefits a dog could have and they finally got the Ok.
Once they knew their grandfather approved the search for the most perfect rescue dog began. The family knew that being Betty’s full-time caretaker was a big job for anyone and having a dog in the house would not only help their grandmother but would also give their grandfather company. Dogs bring a sense of child-like joy and happiness to our everyday routine.
After searching the rescue sites the family finally came across Fenton. A spry little dog who reminded Molly and the family of the dog her father and sisters had growing up. They knew he would be the perfect fit for the family and went ahead with the adoption. They decided to keep it a secret so they could give their grandma a wonderful surprise, as they knew she would never guess her husband would have said yes.
The day to surprise her with Fenton arrived and it was every bit as magical and amazing as you would expect.
The family could literally see that in these moments the disease didn’t exist, all her stress and symptoms disappeared she was simply just happy. It was a million lifetimes of joy all at once for the family to watch Grandma Betty finally get her wish of having a dog.
Fenton was exactly what their grandmother needed and has yet again shown the powerful influence dogs can have on our lives. They are little balls of love that are always present, following us around just waiting to be there when we need them. He is with her wherever she goes and if having Fenton makes her disease even a little less scary, then they both have rescued each other.
When Molly asked her dad if Betty could remember Fenton’s name he had the perfect response. He said “No, but she remembers she loves him. That’s all that matters.”
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