On Oct. 8, my mother and I received a call from my grandpa—Tata—telling us he was having difficulty walking. A week before at the doctor’s office, he had received a shot known as Prolia to prevent him from getting osteoporosis–a bone disease that develops when bone mineral density and bone mass decreases. However, instead of benefiting him, it caused major pain in his legs making it difficult to walk.
Upon learning this, my mother and I went to pick him up and take him back to our house. He stayed with us for the first couple of nights, but later my mother decided to take him to the emergency room. We eventually decided to place him in a temporary nursing facility.
The next few days were mentally challenging as it was difficult for my mother and I to see my Tata in such a devastating state. Finally, we decided to take him out of the nursing facility and bring him home. We then set up physical therapy so my Tata could learn beneficial exercises. For the first month, my mother took time off work so she could watch over him while driving a 35 minute commute every day to take me to school.
My Tata has now stayed at our house for about three months and through this change in his, mine and my mother’s life, I have realized this has become a learning experience. Having my Tata move back in with us has not only impacted my family emotionally but also physically.
Witnessing him in emergency and the nursing home was emotional for me and especially for my mother. Knowing he had to stay the nights in a foreign place with little care was hard to deal with and my mother was worried he would not get the assistance he required.
Little things have physically challenged us; putting him in the wheelchair everywhere we go, picking him up and being a thing to lean on, cleaning up after an extra person and driving extra distance to take him back to his house.
When he first realized what this new setback meant he made one thing clear, to not want to become a burden to my mother or me. Through the months, I have reflected a lot on how this has impacted me at school and home. At school, I continued my managed schedule but now with less time to spend on school work as I became more focused on him.
Now as he stays home, there are certain changes in all of our schedules. Twice a week all of us have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. so my Tata can go to physical therapy and my mother and I can make it to school on time. Additionally, it is harder for my mother and I to do something, like going out, unless we bring my Tata or have someone take care of him.
Throughout all of this, my Tata has proven a positive attitude which I do admire knowing how emotionally tolling this is for him. To uplift his spirits, I always try to converse and socialize with him as I feel like I lack that with him.
As this continues, my role in my family has changed; both as a daughter and granddaughter. I have received new responsibilities to watch over my Tata and realized at some point I will need to step up to someone both my mother and Tata can count on. From my Tata, I have learned patience, love and respect, through the time I spend with him, how he interacts with me and the troubles he explains that occurred throughout his life.
Although, I am glad to be in the position to take care of my Tata as I can talk to him more and become closer. Listening to his stories about his life makes me question how mine has barely begun and in the end, my Tata has had a major impact on my life. Throughout my sixteen years of living, I have seen my Tata as my most prominent father figure.
Moving to San Diego at the age of five and growing up with my Tata at the same time has been a major part of who I have grown up to be. He has watched my sister and I grow up and helped my mom, by watching us while she worked. He ensured my childhood by sparking my interest in reading, giving me my favorite foods and always being there for me in schoolwork and as a father. Growing up with my Tata has given me multiple opportunities to understand how to care for a person. Now given the opportunity to take care of him, I can use what I know to make sure he feels the same way I did when he watched me grow up and raise me.
