"NANA DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE"

"Nana Doesn't Live Here Anymore"


He laid his newly painted bicycle beside the fence and on his way inside the house, he stopped to pick a few bright yellow daffodils. Maybe they'd help to cheer his grandmother up. She hadn't been herself for the last year or so and he knew his parents worried about her living here alone in the big old house she once shared with his grandpa.

"Nana" he said softly, as he entered the warm kitchen. He couldn't wait to show her his bike! It was old but he loved it; just like her. He smelled the wonderful aroma of her brown bread baking in the old wood stove. Her slippers were underneath the table and hair rollers were all over the floor.

"Nana?" he said loudly. "You in here?"

She suddenly appeared from the living room, newspaper in hand and teeth out. Her hair still formed the shape of the curlers she must have slept in the night before. A floured apron covered her tan housedress and her feet were bare. There was flour all over everything!

"Nana?"

"Nana doesn't live here anymore!"

""What?" he asked in disbelief. "Are you ok, Nana?"

"I said, "Nana" doesn't live here anymore. Who are YOU and what are you doing in my house? Scoot out and don't come back. Can't you see I'm very busy?"

Frightened, the lad dropped the fresh flowers and hurried outside to jump on his bright blue bicycle; he had spent all day yesterday painting it and was so proud of the job. The first person he wanted to share it with was his grandmother. What could be wrong with her?

He rode home as fast as he could and rushed through the front door to tell his mother. She was busy with the baby and he waited patiently; she said she'd be just a few minutes.

He decided to call his Nana to see if she was all right. The phone rang and rang and rang but there was no answer. Nana never wanted an answering machine but they gave her one anyways after Papa died and set it all up for her. "Hello. You have reached 639-0967; please leave a message after the tone." But she kept it turned off and refused to use it.

"So, what's the rush?" his mother asked, holding his baby sister in her arms. "What's the matter, son? You're all flushed......"

He began to cry as he rapidly told her what his Nana had said to him & her general disarray. She never seemed shocked or very surprised; just looked very sad. She took him in her arms.....

"Sit down, Seth. I should have warned you boys that this could happen."

As his mother explained "Alzheimer's disease" to her nine year old son, she too began to cry. Since learning of her mother's illness, she had not yet come to grips with how to explain it to her children. They were all very close to her but Seth was by far, her mother's favourite. They had bonded while she babysat him the first four years of his life.

"Mom, don't cry. Maybe Nana was just teasing me; you know how she likes to play "pretend" sometimes. She still treats me like I was five."

He hugged his mother and baby sister and went outside to sit in his favourite tree. He thought about what he had just learned and felt sorry for himself. Did this mean no more stories with Nana; did this mean no more fishing trips with her; did this mean Nana might die?

That night, he told his best friend that he couldn't ride bikes tomorrow. He had something more important to do.

Seth emptied his piggy bank out on top of his bunk bed and counted $6.94. Then he waited outside old man Thomas's store for him to open and bought his supplies. Riding home, he carefully held onto his purchases and hurried to his room.

After eating a peanut butter and jam sandwich for lunch, he rode off to his grandmother's house. He knew she would be at the dentist as his mother had taken her. Hurriedly, he found the house key and went inside. It didn't take long but he had to make two trips.

He rode home with a smile and waited.

When his grandmother went inside, waving to her daughter and the baby as they drove away, she felt happy to be back. It was hard to even know which house was hers anymore so she hesitated to call a taxi for fear of embarressment. She couldn't even recall her own house number or address.

What's this? She stood in her sun-filled kitchen and saw many fresh, bright daffodils, her favourite flower. They were everywhere! A large yellow poster board was propped up on top of the kitchen table, with giant black letters that said "NANA.....I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH. YOUR FAVOURITE GRANDSON, SETH."

Best of all, he had glued his latest school picture underneath his name and also a baby picture of him and her in her old rocking chair. It had today's date and his phone number.

She reached for her phone and dialed the number. He must have been waiting as it was answered on the first ring. "Seth?" she asked.

"Yes; Nana?"

"Wanna go fishing out back by the lake after supper? I have been wanting to see you."

"Sure, Nan; I'll be over then. I'll dig some worms for our hooks. See ya". And he smiled widely!

When he arrived, his grandmother was carrying her tackle box down to the lake and saw him pull up on his bike. "See, Nana, I painted it blue; remember when it was red and all the old paint was flaking off?"

"Yeah" she replied but she didn't really. But that was ok with Seth; as long as she remembered him!

That night, as he rode home on his bike with the fish in a pail in his parcel carrier, he wondered if she'd ever forget him again. He hoped not. "Please, God, help Nan to remember me." Just then, the chain broke on his prized possession and he added "Oh, and if she wants to buy me a new bike for my birthday next month, that would be ok too."

And he slept like a baby while his Nan slept with a room full of daffodils. She wondered where they came from and guessed she must have picked them herself. Oh well, they made her very happy.