Grandma Mary
by Lauren Simon

Tired, after a night spent at my friends, I pulled the headphones off my head and slid out of the back of the car. I’ll admit, I was somewhat reluctant to spend my day off up at a small condominium in Northern Mass. Honestly, I would much rather be back in Lexington, running around outside with Sophia and Kathleen. But that wasn’t going to happen.  Coincidentally, this was the day before my Grandma had gone to the hospital for an overdose of medication caused by her loss of her short term memory. As soon as I walked into her condo, I could tell everything was definitely NOT alright. She was not herself, and wasn’t in the best condition. I remember seeing her sitting on her old chair, reading the newspaper. Even though her face lit up when she saw us, it still maintained its unusual sallowness. My mom, my brother and I were all were trying to help her, getting her this, getting her that, everything that we could. But, there was only one thing she asked us for. She wanted to know all about everything that was going on in our lives. She wanted every detail about my mom’s work- how was your deposition ? have you been busy with legal documents for your boss? things that I, a healthy thirteen year old couldn’t keep up with. Then she moved on to my brother, Tommy. How do you like fifth grade? Do you like your teachers here at Claypit more than Loker? Are you still taking art lessons and playing basketball? Finally, she questioned me. Lauren, do you have any chorus or orchestra concerts coming up? Are you still playing tennis matches every week? I heard you started to take piano lessons- how is that going? She wouldn’t stop to think about herself, only about us.

It’s no secret she’s had a hard life. She raised seven children while not having the highest paying job. Twenty years ago, her husband was diagnosed with lung cancer, and died shortly after. Somehow throughout all of the years after, watching her children move on and away, and even after the visit discovering she has Alzheimer disease, she always found a way to keep a smile on her face.

Back here at Wayland Middle School, we see BERT everywhere. Whether you love him or hate him, you have got to admit that he is what the ideal community is made up of. When I think of my Grandma, the E in BERT comes to mind. E for empathy. She never dwells in her problems, but just find the lights in other people’s lives. Amongst all of her troubles, she could focus just on us. And not by forcing on us everything we could do better, but by wanting the best for us without pushing us too hard.

Something I have learned throughout my eighth grade year here at this school is that before you can create just communities and environments, you need to have empathy for those around you, no matter what your relation is to them.

I can’t hide the fact that I know she won’t be around for much longer. But no matter what happens to her, and how she changes, I know that I can always have a memory of coming to visit her around this same time last year and seeing her dancing around the room, singing to some obscure old holiday song. She was not thinking about her personal health and emotional issues, she just wanted to enjoy where she was right then, happy, with her family who loves and cares about her. She knew that even though everything was far from perfect, she could just enjoy that moment, not asking for more, but taking pleasure in the best of what she had. I would like to light a candle for my Grandma Mary- not just for what she has done, but also what she has inspired me to do.