Life Stories: Grandpa Lewis

Grandma and Grandpa Lewis came to live with us when I was a teenager. Grandma had Alzheimer’s disease and Grandpa had Dementia. Both had lost parts of their memory and their ability to care for themselves. I don’t even think they remembered me most of the time.
It was my responsibility to sometimes watch and care for them. Sometimes I was responsible for taking them to the bathroom, helping them get dressed, fixing them their meals and them helping them to eat. Grandpa was always grateful to us for our service to him and Grandma. He would often tell my dad that he needed to take me fishing, or give a few bucks for serving both him and Grandma.
I never knew Grandpa very well previously. We moved to Utah when I was 5 years old. As a family we would try to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Arizona at least once every year. I looked forward to those visits. What I do remember about Grandpa was that he was quiet and kind, especially to Jacob and I. But it was during his stay with us that my feelings for grandpa really developed. I grew to love him very much!
Eventually Grandpa grew very really ill. He got so sick that we had to keep him in a hospital in Orem, UT. One evening my dad and I went to visit Grandpa at the hospital. We both stood by his bed trying to comfort him. After a few minutes my dad and I were on our way out the door, when my Grandpa called me back to his bedside and said to me “Hun, come here”. When I reached Grandpas bedside he grabbed my hand and put it in both of his hands and said “I will always be with you hun”. That night Grandpa died. I remember thinking that he didn’t know who I was or that he thought I was someone else when he said that. But I know better now. I have several times since then felt a presence in my home, and I have felt that it is Grandpa coming to check on me and his little great grandson, Eddie Montgomery.