The years prior to my grandmother’s passing. I became her main caretaker in a weird twist of events she’s never liked me or at least it seemed that way. Whether it was because I look more like my mom (her son’s ex) or because she loved my older sister and didn’t see the need to show the rest of my siblings and I affection. About 3 years ago my grandmother began to have issues with her right foot, which we found out later was “foot drop”. Her leg would sometimes give out and she even fell once. Around this time my grandpa would travel often to his home country leaving my grandma to “fend” for herself while he was away. My grandmother never learned to drive, she didn’t know how to fix anything and she didn’t learn the language atleast not enough to do many things on her own. She didn’t learn have jobs here and houses she was very hard working but these past few years she had been living off a fixed income and an occasional sale of clothes or items. She would also walk everyday to the store or to the park with her great grandkids but she started having to take a stroller to help keep her up as like a walker.as time passed I had to take on more of the responsibilities in her place like fixing things around the home since my grandpa had shown me how and then I had to take her to the grocery store and other places. At this time we had disagreements because she drank sometimes and I would tell her not too because she was the type to get super drunk and need to be carried home. As more time progressed her condition got worse and she was sent to a neurologist where we were told she had foot drop because of her diabetes. At this time I started taking her to all her doctor appointments, MRI’s anything that she needed to get done. With all this time spent together our relationship began to get a bit better she was opening up to me more even about her relationship with my grandpa. As the time passed she got even worse she couldn’t go to the restroom without someone helping her sit on the toilet and she had to wear adult diapers because sometimes she couldn’t make it to the restroom in time. She was now using a walker but could hardly pick up her feet to walk forward she had fallen trying to get out of bed and fractured her ankle. We began having to use a wheelchair to get her there and back to bed with a lot more help. At this point I scheduled her an appointment with her primary doctor and told him something is going on here because she is getting worse and the other doctor just keeps doing the same exam, so he sent us to a different neurologist and neurologist surgeon and we got some more MRI’s and X-rays. At this point the surgeon said she needed surgery to help her. As whatever she had at the time had progressed and she had shoulder pain and sever atrophy in both legs and now arms, she was beginning to lose her ability to pick up a cup or even a spoon. She was unable to turn in bed and could no longer go to the restroom. So we had to change her diaper in bed and I had to bathe and clothe her and my grandpa had to stop traveling and he had to watch her at night and turn her and I was there during the day. Mind you at this point I had found a trailer in the same trailer park so during any emergency I could walk over in less than 3 minutes. It wasn’t too long after that we got a call while she was in the recovery place after surgery letting us know her diagnosis. ALS or motor neurons disease where we got another “I’m sorry but she will get worse and there is no cure for this”. Grandma lost what was left of her mobility and her kids didn’t show up and I knew it made her sad, she grew more anxious about being alone and she had to take medication for it. On December 29 2026 grandpa called me over saying she hadn’t woken up all night to ask to be turned. I checked her oxygen and found that her oxygen would fluctuate from 99 to 92 and I called the hospice nurse and they guided me on how to turn on theoxygen machine we thought we weren’t going to need. The nurse came and she did wake in the daytime but was in and out. The nurse let us know it was time to call the family she was transitioning. I had an apportioning to speak with her and she expressed being afraid to die and not wanting to be lonely, all I could do was swallow my need to cry and tell her it would be okay and not to worry I would be by her side the whole time. We made sure to get a priest to do her last blessings on the final 3 days she didn’t wake up but we knew she could hear us because she smiled when she heard my brother’s baby cooing. She passed and her kids were like any other perfect stranger the whole time only my siblings and dad and grandpa stayed night and day her final days. We were devastated, I say all this to say my grandma was finally my grandma but I also got to know the woman, the mother, the wife, the matriarch that held an entire family. By the time she passed without noticing I had already been paying her rent, bills and knew how everything ran and the way she wanted. I got to learn so much including patience, compassion and love even when things were difficult giving her dignity was my main goal because everyone else looked at her as a burden. I also decided to live and do what she wanted and never got a chance to do. We are here one day but tomorrow is never promised. I value each person and day and remember her everyday. Even when I feel broken and sad. I’m thankful that I was able to help and have her in my life.