All's Well That Ends Well

I found out some alarming news this morning: my grandmother suffers from severe, violent dementia. Apparently she's had this unbeknownst to me for the last year, and she's been taking medicine for it. Lately, it seems she hasn't been taking her medicine because she's had countless violent outbursts - this one last night so severe she had to be hospitalized in the psych. or geriatric ward. They're re-assesing her as we speak, or at least some time today. Unfortunately, the one who receives the blunt of her violence during her heightened states of dementia, is her husband, my grandfather--whom she has thrown a boiling pot of potatoes at, physically abused on several occasions, and verbally abused with accusations of cheating on her with my aunt and an imaginary woman named Lilly. My aunt Pat, the one whom my grandmother also accuses of committing adultery with her husband, my aunt's father-in-law, first informed me last night that she had shaken her sister-in-law, Aunt Millie as we call her, violently like a rag doll - so the sons and daughters, kith and kin, had to get together to decide what to do, and to provide family support last night for my grandfather from Noon until about Four this morning. How my grandfather (or kin for that matter) feels about this, I suspect, only he, or my parents and aunts and uncles will know - and they're tight-lipped about this, of the repressive, don't-talk-about-it-or-you-have-to-deal-with-it variety when it comes to family problems (though in time they'll talk about it). Now that my grandmother is deeper in the throes of dementia, apparently, it might be advised that she be placed in a nursing home, which I highly doubt will happen because her husband, my grandfather is a quiet, proud noble man (then again, it may be better for his health and safety since he's received the blunt of her violent outbursts).

That's all I know for now--and can recollect after sleeping at 5 AM and waking up 2 1/2 hours later to get ready for a day of work. To be honest, too, after hearing this news--from her hospitalization to diagnosis--earlier yesterday afternoon, I've been uneasy, off-kilter and feeling down in general. I know this is what happens to a small percentage of the senior population - 6 - 8% I read somewhere - but when it happens to you, personally, it's hard. It's nearly as heartbreaking as someone dying, at least that's how I can describe it feeling for me--which I'm not sure about either if that's healthy, or monstrous of me. In the mean time, I'll keep myself busy getting ready to head back to school, starting on my upcoming readings such as Frye's The Great Code, and Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well.

That's the news for now.