Dear Grandpa,

My grandpa was the most amazing man I have ever known. He passed away a few years ago, shortly after my grandma, and the heartbreak of losing them both is something I will always carry with me.

I first realized he had Alzheimer’s in a moment that broke my heart. He had gone out to get groceries and never returned. We searched for him and eventually found him on the side of a freeway, in tears, explaining that he had forgotten how to get home. He never used GPS or maps, and he never needed to, yet that day, his own brain left him lost in a way none of us could have anticipated.

As the years went on, he forgot more than just places. At times, he even forgot me, his granddaughter. Yet despite all that the disease took from him, he never forgot his wife. When she passed, Alzheimer’s could not touch the memory of her in him. The grief of reliving her death repeatedly may have been what ultimately took him from us that year, even with no other health complications.

My grandpa owned an ice cream truck, and the countless memories I have of his laughter, his love, and his kindness will always carry on. Alzheimer’s was never the definition of who he was. He will always be remembered as the man who loved everyone around him, and even until the end, he could not lose the memory of his other half. He was a simple man, with an ice cream truck he kept for decades just because he loved hearing the sounds of cheering children.

Ultimately, if I could sit with my grandpa one more time before he was impacted by Alzheimer’s, I’d ask him to tell me everything about his love story with my grandma. I’d want to experience his greatest memory, one that even Alzheimer’s had no power over. I would then tell him that these memories will live on with me forever, that his love shaped me, and that no matter what, I will carry his laughter, his kindness, and his heart with me always.

Grandpa, in the same way grandma stayed with you, I know that you will stay with me. I love you.

Sincerely,

Donia Maymoun