My thoughts on future grandchildren

(Chapter 23 Living with a memory impairment and being a Nana in my book)

I try very hard not to worry about things that I cannot change, but sometimes it just happens. The other day, I was thinking about the future and possible grandchildren. This has been something that I have been looking forward to for many years. Right now, I feel that my three children, ages twenty-three, twenty-seven and thirty-one are in denial that I am living with a memory impairment. They seem to shrug it off as though life is still the same for me! That is so far from my reality!

I hope that when I have grandchildren, if I haven’t really progressed too much, that I would still be aware of this joyous time! I wonder if my children will allow me to care for their children alone, or if they will recognize that I have a problem. I just hope and pray that I will be able to enjoy being a grandmother! I just know that there is a chance that this will be different for me than I once thought it would be. That makes me sad!

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend about this. She reminded me of how we just need to learn to accept things because that is all we can do. I think that I have been good at accepting the journey that I’m on, but sometimes I just think of what it would have been like!

I need to remember the sign that I have hanging in my apartment. It says, “God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference!” I think that this is called The Serenity Prayer.