Thirteen years ago today my grandmother passed away. It wasn't a suprise and it was actually a relief. Well as much as a relief as it could be for a 10 year old.
In the fall of 1994 Grandma was diagnoised with a stroke. She hadn't been acting... right for a little while and had some migraines. That Thanksgiving we traveled down to NC to visit from NJ. A couple months later she was REdiagnoised with MS. Even though none of her symptoms really fit that... she was treated at Duke University Hospital.
In April my Mom flew down to help Grandpa take care of her. Mom was supposed to stay for one week but instead stayed for two.
In the morning of May 25th my Grandpa had been sitting with Grandma when he finally had to get up and go mow the lawn. He told her what he was going to do and he bent down to give her a kiss. He noticed a tear running down her cheek. He sat back down and said, "I'll wait a little while since you don't want me to leave." Shortly after that she passed away.
I was in fourth grade. My school's principal came into the classroom I was in and told me that I had to come with her. After I stood up she told me to bring my things since I would be going home. We walked across the hall to get my things from my main class room and we heading to the office. When she pointed me towards her office I knew what was going on. Inside her office was my mother and brother. They were both crying and I burst into tears. Mom was happy to see me crying (maybe more relieved) since when my uncle passed away not a year before from a car accident I didn't cry at all.
Being that it was Memorial Day weekend we had a long weekend anyway. That night my brother had a baseball game. The next morning we left for NC. There was horrible traffic around DC. Construction+holiday weekend.
The only autopsy that would be completely would be on her brain- which my Grandpa donated to Duke. There wasn't very much known about MS at the time and he felt that even if it couldn't help Grandma it may be able to help someone else.
Grandpa got a letter a few months later that told us that she never had MS. She never had a stroke. She had a hard to detect and impossible to treat form of brain cancer.
Donna Mae Falls
1943-1995
