No Rhyme or Reason

Chapter 2

"Wish me luck, I know you think I'll need it" -- Pretty Girl at the Airport -- The Avett Brothers

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"What time should I come get you tonight?" I asked Ana, knowing she didn't have a car.

"Come over at nine, we'll leave at ten."

"Ten?" I asked, shocked.

"If we went before then, no one would be there."

I sighed, knowing I was in for a long night.

When I got home from school, I went to the living room to see my grandparents. My gramps was on his phone like normal. 

Every morning, my gramps read the paper, and a couple years ago I showed him a news app on his phone. Now whenever he was sitting, he was always on his phone reading up about the news; he loved it. My gram was sitting in her usual seat on the couch sewing. If she wasn't sewing, she was knitting. That was something we did together. She taught me how to sew and knit and we would sit on the couch together, making something separately, but together. It always kept us close and we had a special bond because of it. 

My grams was diagnosed with early dementia a few years ago, and for the most part, it hadn't really affected her life yet. She would forgot little things like names of her old friends and appointment times. It had been fine because gramps and I could help her with all that. But in the last year, her dementia had progressed. Even though sewing and knitting were like breathing for her, it has started to get a little more difficult for her, which frustrated her. In the last few months, she had had a shocking decline in her memory, and it seemed to get worse by the week. I was worried that soon she wouldn't be able to sew or knit all together, which would be a really sad day. 

"Where are you coming from Liv?" she asked.

"I just finished my classes for the day," I reminded her.

"Ah, that's right. How was school?" she asked.

"It was good. Got a big writing assignment for my creative writing class."

"Oh that's nice. Are you excited?" my gramps asked as he looked up from his phone.

I nodded my head. I paused. "I think I'm going out tonight with Ana."

My grandmother looked up at me and smiled. There was a twinkle in her eyes. "You're going out?"

"It's for my assignment," I said.

She looked back down at the fabric on her lap and nodded her head, but I could tell she didn't believe me because she was still smiling.

"I swear," I defended. "It is."

"Alright," she said. 

I laughed and went to the kitchen. There was no convincing her. She was always my biggest advocate to get out there and have some fun. 

"Have you guys had supper yet?"

"Not yet sweetie. We haven't really had the energy," my gramps said from the living room. 

"No worries," I said. "I'll make some pasta."

I grabbed a pot and started filling it with water. A lot of times, if I didn't remind them to eat or make something for them, they either didn't eat or would eat whatever was convenient. I always worried about them, especially with my grandmother's declining health. My grandfather was always the biggest help with my grandmother, he was always our rock, but now even he was getting tired. 

When the food was ready, I put the spaghetti on plates, cut up extra well for my grandmother, with a small salad on the side, and brought it out to my grandparents in the living room. Then I went back and made some decaf coffee for my gram which she loved at all hours of the day.