Greta Ballif shares her experience of taking care of her grandmother in “Caregiver.” Ballif talks about a night in which she is supposed to take care of her elderly grandma. She recounts the simple tasks that she had to do and layers in her thoughts giving meaning to what she was doing. This popular form of personal narrative writing is effective for this type of story. It helps to understand what the person was going through. Often menial things have great meaning depending on the context. Helping someone get ready for bed could be seen as a chore, but the author began to love her grandma more because of what she was doing. Not only did she appreciate Alice
My own grandma is beginning to age quickly and struggles to live on her own. It is difficult to see relatives struggle to do the things they could once do with no thought. When you come into life you are helpless, and as you leave this life you are reliant on others for your well being. This causes many elderly people trouble as they adapt to being dependent again. The narrative reminds me to treasure the time I have with my grandparents before they pass on. Hearing their stories and insights has been a great blessing to me. I have learned to appreciate the small things in life from seeing my grandparents age. This helped me to relate to the author as she watched Alice
I have a lot of experience taking care of elderly grandparents, so I can relate to Ballif's story. When I was younger, my parents had many of my relatives come to live with us before they passed away. I don’t remember a time throughout my childhood when a grandmother, great-grandmother, or great-aunt was not living in my house. It was definitely hard, but, like Ballif, I came to value these relatives on a deeper level. I wasn’t quite old enough to take care of them in some fantastic way, but I do remember being able to sing for them and draw pictures with them. Through these simple tasks I became closer to them and more thankful for them.
ReplyDeleteOn the first Tuesday of every month, I used to visit the nursing home in my area. At first I dreaded going, mostly because I was nervous about not knowing what to say! However, as time went on, I actually made friends with one of the elderly women. Each time I went, we would sit and talk for a long time. She would occasionally retell the same stories, but it was just fine with me. It was interesting to note how she seemed to use the same expression each time she told a certain story. I grew to love my time at the retirement home.
ReplyDelete