Surprising Friendship Story - Levi B. - 03/22/18

Contest: Winners

Surprising Friendship Story

Submitted by: Levi B., age 12, Lombard, IL

Growing Apart, Growing Closer
    
As soon as I walked into my house after a tiring day at Jacksonville Public School, I heard a booming voice that was singing an old folk song coming from the living room. Immediately I dropped my backpack and ran down the hallway to the living room doorway, expecting the worst. But I stopped in my tracks when I saw my five-year-old brother trying to read one of his You Can Read! books to my grandfather, who seemed to be having what we called a “remembering fit.”
    
Suddenly I also remembered something: sitting in a hospital room five years ago and watching my grandfather—who I had called Grandpapa at the time—holding my newborn baby brother, Jonathon. Two days later my grandpapa had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and my life, as well as everyone else in my family’s lives, had been immensely changed.
    
Back then it had been Grandpapa who’d helped Jonathon learn to make noises and roll over, but now Jonathon was the one helping Grandfather learn to stay calm and not get upset when he couldn’t remember something. And yet, even as they had both grown apart in their abilities and swapped sides on who helped who, their friendship had grown closer; their bond had grown stronger. Grandfather, even when he had forgotten everything else, had always remembered his love for Jonathon. In the middle of the night when he woke up from a dream and could not remember why he was awake, he would always call for my brother. And Jonathon, who loved Grandfather more than anyone else, would always hear his beloved grandpapa and run to comfort him.  
    
Even now as I looked back into the living room, I could see my brother hugging Grandfather, telling him to calm down, and Grandfather did calm down, because he trusted Jonathon. And I was convinced that their friendship would only grow closer as their abilities grew further apart.     


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