My Grandmother, Barbara Denke, was an amazing woman and a strong fighter. I never got to see her without the devastating disease of Alzheimer’s, which took her life, but I was able to have some heart-to-heart moments with her at times when she was briefly full-functioning before Alzheimer’s completely swept away her memory and took away her life.
My earliest-remembered memory of my Grandmother was back circa 2003. I was at my Grandparents’ house, and I was standing just outside of her kitchen. I could feel her loving presence enfolding me. I remember that conversation as if it were a chance for me to pursue my lifelong dream as becoming a doctor and helping others.
I remember that my Grandmother was talking about her life, she was telling me things like “I love to take on my own projects” and “I’ve done it ever since the earliest I can remember.” Although my wording sounds like a natural sentence to speak, it was not her at her fully-functioning sentence level. Yes she was speaking in sentences that made sense, but she was mumbling a lot, and it was a little hard to hear. I was only approximately 4 years old when I had that conversation.
Alzheimer’s took my Grandmother’s life away on September 28th of 2012. I remember I was there with her on her last day of life. I remember sitting in a recliner next to her, holding her hand while she was singing and tapping her foot to the music. (She was NOT singing real words, just terms like “raza raza” and “ilsmed.”) I remember my father, mother, brother, sister and uncle were alongside me. I remember them telling me it was okay, and that even though I did not get to meet the best side of her, she would still know me as a person for who I am. I never understood what they meant until the very next day, when I found out at 7:29 that she had passed away the previous night.
Thank you for reading.
-Griffin Denke, Grandson of Barbara “Russell” Denke.