Letter #5: Storm Warning

Sweetheart,

This letter is a Storm Warning of sorts. Almost 30 years apart from you, I’m writing this between your semesters so you have time to digest and reflect before your senior year starts…

You’re going to have Dad with you until you’re 50. I won’t tell you exactly what happens, but you’re going to do alright and its nothing to ultimately be afraid of. The relationship you have with him is going to become incredibly complicated in the next 15 years of your life and you will discover things about yourself and him you cannot even imagine right now. Good things and not-so-good things. Your brother will come and go as a fixture in your life but he will show up when Mom and Dad start to decline. I’m sharing a time of closeness with him right now that is amazing and he’s shown up in some great ways. Oh, and your nephew! He’s the brightest penny we’ve ever seen and you’re going to fall head over heels with this complicated, weird, fantastically funny little boy.

You’re going to deal with Alzheimer’s again, baby.

It’ll show up in Mama when you’re about 45. It’s a similar ride to what you’re going through right now with Grandmommy. It’s crazy, but we have that in common at this time in both our lives. Everything you’re learning now will come back to you and you and your brother will handle it about as well as anyone can. I have to be honest and tell you that it’s WAY different with Mom than it was with Grandmommy. Harder. It’s not our first rodeo and you gained fantastic “dementia whispering” skills — but the trip is just as difficult, exhausting, and heartbreaking for me these days as it is for you 30 years ago. Just know I love you and that I remember where you are in your life. I’m your biggest fan. You’re going to carry on and being a caregiver at such a young age is forming the woman and professional you’ll become.

With all my love,

Me