When He Starts Forgetting Things

Elderly couple holding hands.

I gave my grandfather a hug, his shoulders thin and drooping. He was never a large man, but age and illness have shrunken him even further. At 5'4" I stand taller than him, and at 150 pounds, I outweigh him by a couple dozen. I am strong and sturdy, and my grandfather feels like the maple leaves in late October; dried out and thin, with just a bit of color left in his cheeks. Nothing makes the sky seem greyer than watching someone…