The Way Things Change

         Our excitement was hard to contain. We had reached Grandma’s house! It had been a long road trip from Minot, ND to the small town of Columbia Falls, MT, but we were finally here!

         Jeremy and I both knew the good times to be had on the farm. There was the old barn to explore, the tire swing to play with, all the great climbing trees to conquer, the garden to raid, but most of all, there would be Great Grandma Brown to see.

         The car finally stopped and we piled out, racing up the steps to Grandma Hankin's house. She was already waiting at the door but barely had time to say hello before we finished the initial hugs and were zooming back down the stairs and next door.

         Great Grandma Brown was in the kitchen and both of us barreled into her lovely softness and reached up to kiss her cheek. As expected, she immediately went about getting us our bowls of ice cream smothered in thick, chocolate syrup. We chattered and gibbered and wiggled in our seats and would only be quiet when the delicious treat was in front of us. As always, she had made her own bowl and joined us at the kitchen table.

         I kept an eagle eye on the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. It held a very tricky bird that would only come out when I wasn’t in the room. This time, I’d catch him though. I was sure of it.

         After ice cream, we followed tradition and trooped to the living room where Jeremy and I took our time in picking out a book. There were a great many interesting books, some old favorites while there were a few I’d not seen before. Jeremy chose one about a young colt, but in the end I picked my most favorite, ‘Betty Ballerina’.

         Grandma took us both onto her comfortable lap and I reveled again in the familiar sound of her voice. My gaze wandered around the room and over all the well-known objects. The cases and cases of thick books, the piano and the wall mural of a house, a weeping willow and a brook; which always looked very inviting.

         After she finished reading, Grandma found the doctor's bags for us. These were amazing bags, smelling of age and filled with interesting things like brown, glass bottles and other things doubtlessly used by real doctors in the past. There were other toys as well, blocks and dolls and puzzles.

         Jeremy played with me for a while but soon lost interest and galloped outside to swing on the branches of the willows and fight imaginary villains with stick swords. I’d join him eventually but hadn’t finished exploring those wonderful bags. Then a noise reached my ears and I realized that I’d been hearing it for a while. It was that cuckoo! Like lightning, I was up and in the kitchen but the bird was nowhere to be seen.

         Since I'd missed the cuckoo again, I wandered outside to the porch where Grandma kept the hummingbird feeders. She hung them up every spring and the tiny birds glittered like jewels around the porch. Then Jeremy called so I ran to go play with him.

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         It was the following summer and Mom told us that we would soon be going to see Grandma and Grandpa again. We cheered and began comparing memories of our last trip and all the good things that were to come.

         ”And ice cream at Grandma Browns!” I shouted the last.

         ”Wait. I need to tell you something about Grandma Brown.” Mom’s serious voice immediately got our attention. We settled down to listen.

         ”Grandma Brown won’t be the same. She won’t be like she used to be.” Mom went on to say some very strange things. Mysterious things that I couldn’t understand, using words like 'sick' and one very big word which I couldn't say and even my mind had trouble repeating. Alzhiemers. I felt confused and a little worried.

         ”But she’s still Grandma Brown?” I finally asked.

         ”Oh yes. She still is.”

         I felt better. If she were still Grandma Brown, then everything would be fine.

         When we arrived at Grandma’s house, things were different. Jeremy and I weren’t allowed to run right over to Great Grandma Brown's. When I did go, I went alone since Jeremy was busy playing with our cousin Zak. He had shown up a few hours before and they were sword fighting with the rhubarb again.

         The hummingbird feeders weren’t hung up on the porch and when I went inside, Grandma wasn’t in the kitchen. I found her in the living room; sitting in the chair which she had always used to read us our stories. The house smelled a little funny, and Grandma acted funny. She didn’t seem to know who I was. I went to hug her and realized that the smell was coming from her. When I kissed her cheek, it reminded me of rubber.

         I felt uncomfortable, like I was in a stranger’s house who had a lot of things that I wasn’t supposed to touch. Grandma just kept sitting there so I asked where the doctor bags were.

         She took a long time to answer. “I never had any doctor bags.”

         That confused me because I knew that she had had those bags but I also knew that grownups didn’t lie, especially not Grandma Brown.

         I wandered over to the books and saw that many of them were gone. ‘Betty Ballerina’ was still there so I sat on the floor and turned the pages. Grandma didn’t say anything or move and I was nervous about making any noise. After a while of looking through the books, I got up and went into the kitchen. I really wanted some ice cream but had never had to ask before. Suddenly the cuckoo clock made it’s noise and the doors opened and the bird came out and went back in a couple times.

         Then I walked back to the living room door and looked in. Grandma Brown still hadn’t moved but she was talking very softly so that I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

         I wasn’t sure what to do so I went back outside and found Jeremy and Zak.