Small Miracles, Big Treasures

Today, a small miracle occurred. For the past year, my grandfather (my mother's father) has been suffering from dementia. It has slowly gotten worse by the month until he is now unable to tell who my mom and grandmother are. My grandmother does not feel comfortable putting him in a nursing home for fear that the change will be detrimental. She also can't bear the thought of leaving his side. So he has gone on like this for many months, not making any sense when he speaks and rarely understanding even simple sentences like what he would like to drink with his meal. 

The other day, one of my acquaintances at the San Antonio Express News, columnist Ken Rodriguez, was kind enough to call me about an article he was working on. He was writing about multimedia and journalism, and since I am a convergence major (which basically means I am learning how to use video, audio, print and photo forms of media) at the University of Missouri-Columbia, he decided to interview me. As it turned out, he wrote a glowing piece about all I am accomplishing, using terms that I thought were way to generous for the limited knowledge I have managed to gain. But nevertheless, my family was extremely proud, and my mom naturally showed the article to many family members. 

So she went over to my grandfather's house, like she does many days of the week to keep my grandmother company, and she decided to show the article to my grandfather. After she let him read it for a couple of minutes, she asked a question, probably not really expecting a comprehensible response.

"Do you know who that is, Daddy?"

"Of course I do," my grandfather answered. "That's Gretchen?"

Still unsure since my name was in the article, she asked again. 

"Yes, but do you know who that is?"

"Yes," he answered. "That's my Gretchen."

My mom says she believes he knew what he was talking about. And I believe this is a small miracle since he has not seen me for nearly two months while I have been away at college. I may never understand the human mind or the Supernatural, but I do know that I will treasure these small moments, and thank the people and God who make them possible.