The Memory

Hope had a wonderful life. Her childhood was happy and she was always surrounded by many family members and friends. She lived in a nice house in Virginia Beach, which was located next door to her grandparents. She also was lucky enough to have aunts, uncles and cousins live nearby. She was born in the 1960’s and back then things were different growing up. Kids could do so many fun things without having to worry about the dangerous things that go on in today’s world.

She walked to school, rode her bike to her friends’ houses, rode dirt bikes in the woods, and she even stayed out until after dark playing ball. She was always at her grandparents' house. It was so much fun visiting with "Grandma and Grampa," as she called them. Her grandmother was always cooking so they were always eating but the three of them would also play cards and watch television together. There were also lots of parties with the family. Birthday parties, graduation parties and weddings...they were all so much fun!

Hope also liked school. She was a cheerleader in high school and she was pretty popular. She had a steady boyfriend, whose name was Frank. They were in the same grade and were serious for both their junior and senior years in high school. They were even Homecoming King and Queen. After high school they both went to college. They didn’t go to the same college but they continued seeing each other. Frank became an accountant and Hope was an elementary school teacher. Of course, once they had jobs they started planning their wedding. They were each other's true love. They had a big, beautiful wedding. All their family and friends were at their wedding...parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends from childhood through college. Hope and Frank couldn’t wait to start their lives together!

They purchased a house not far from either of their families. They wanted their children to have the same happy childhoods that they had and wanted to remain close to their families. They wanted their children to spend lots of time with all their grandparents. Hope and Frank had three children, two boys and a girl. They had their problems but they had a happy life and they were thankful. Sometimes Hope thought things were almost too perfect...

Then one day Hope got devastating news, her grandfather passed away. Hope immediately went to her parents' house. It was her mother’s father who died. He did have health problems but they seemed to be under control. Hope was so worried about her grandmother because she depended on her grandfather for everything. Hope‘s parents moved her grandmother into their house. Although nobody wanted to admit it, her grandmother’s memory was not that great while her grandfather was living but he always took such great care of her that it really wasn’t an issue. Now that her grandfather was gone, her grandmother got much worse because depression set in. Her grandmother was 82 years old and her physical health was fairly good. It was her mind that was causing the issues.

Everyday Hope’s grandmother would walk to the beach, sit on the same bench and stare at the ocean. Of course, someone would always go and sit with her. Hope’s grandmother was always quiet but she barely spoke at all anymore. She could speak but she was so depressed and her memory problems were getting progressively worse. Hope’s parents took her to a neurologist, who diagnosed her with dementia. There were going to be tests done to try to find out how serious it was and the family was hoping medicine could at least slow it down.

Hope still had much happiness in her life but things were different without her grandfather and with her grandmother’s illness. Hope wasn't naive, she knew that everyone in her family wouldn't always be healthy but it is just so hard when it actually happens. But her family would stick together like they always did and they would take care of her grandmother. Hope would go to her parents' house any chance that she got to spend time with her grandmother. She would walk to the beach with her grandmother and sit on the bench and watch the ocean a few times a week. But she couldn't figure out what her grandmother was looking at. It was almost as if she was waiting for someone.

One day Hope asked her mother if she knew whether her grandmother always liked sitting at the beach so much. Hope's mother said "Well, she never really did that while your grandfather was alive." Hope's mother thought maybe it gave her mother some comfort since her father was in the Navy. After all, that is how the family ended up living in Virginia Beach. Hope's grandmother was from Maryland but moved to Virginia Beach to work. She planned to move back to her home state of Maryland one day. Actually, your grandparents met when your grandfather was in the Navy. She would often tell me how she would always wait for him to return home on the ship. Hope's mother explained that her grandfather would often tease her grandmother saying "All you have to do is look out at the ocean and before you know it you will see my ship on the horizon and I will be coming home to my sweetheart."💕

That night while laying in bed Hope was thinking about her conversation with her mother earlier in the day. Hope thought "I wonder if my grandmother keeps going to the ocean because she thinks my grandfather will be coming home to her on a ship?" Frank was in bed too and he wasn't asleep yet so Hope told him that she thought she figured out why her grandmother loved going to the beach so much. She explained that if she was in her grandmother's shoes, the one thing she thought she would remember was something about him because true love is very hard to forget. Frank agreed that Hope's reasoning certainly made sense.

A few days later when Hope was sitting on the bench with her grandmother at the beach, there was a Navy ship on the horizon. Hope never asked her grandmother about her theory about why she loves the beach so much. But that day her grandmother looked at her and said "Look Hope! There is your grandfather's ship! He is finally coming home!" The tears were running down Hope's face, she felt so sad for her grandmother because she was so excited to see Hope's grandfather, who was her one true love. Of course, Hope didn't say anything to her grandmother, she just smiled at her and thought to herself "dementia can strip a person of so many memories but it can't touch true love because true love never dies."