Throughout my adolescence, I can vividly remember spending countless hours at my Grandma’s

house while my parents were away at work. Through the duration of my Grandma’s life, she had

accomplished a lot of things most people could only dream of. She married her high school

sweetheart, had 3 boys and 3 girls, became a well respected nurse and was now taking care of her

grandkids in the same house she raised her own in.

Before I was born and the reason I got my name Cristina was based off my grandpa Chrispine,

who had passed away only days before my mom found out she was having me, after many

troubles becoming pregnant. She was always drawn to me and I was always drawn to her in a

sense that I was apart of my grandma in some way.

As I grew older, I would see her less and less due to school starting up and us moving a little

farther away from where she lives. At the time, you never realize how fast your life is moving

until you step back and look at it and look around to see how the individuals around you have

changed. During my years in elementary school I rarely saw her and didn’t think about how

much she had changed until I hit the sixth grade. I started growing closer to my Grandma again

due to that fact that she was always there to help me and give me advice on how to navigate my

now pre-teen drama filled years.

She was truly the definition of caring and taught me so many lifelong skills and assets I still use

to this day. My time spent with her was never a dull moment and through our talks, I even found

out I wanted to pursue a career in nursing like she had.

 An unexpected move caused us to lose touch once again, for months on end I wouldn’t

communicate with her except a few calls here and there. After two years of not seeing her, the

summer going into my freshman year we finally flew from Dallas to San Antonio to pay my

family a visit before I started high school. Walking into the familiar green door of my grandmas

house, it was just how I had remembered it except she wasn’t.

My mother had told me she had started having trouble recalling small details on things but when

I saw her, she called me by a completely different name. I walked away and broke down crying

immediately due to the guilt inside me on the time I had lost with her due to my own self

involvement in my own life.

My aunts sat me down and told me she had been officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease

a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. Seeing my

grandma forget simple things broke my heart because she didn’t used to be like this. I hated the

world for giving this to her and for her having to deal with not remembering the things she once

loved to talk about.

That week, I had caught up with her and one thing that shocked me was she had remembered me

saying I wanted to be a nurse and how excited she was for us to have another nurse in the family.

The fact that she had remembered that blew me away and only burned a bigger desire in me to

pursue nursing.