Dementia is a scary sickness to experience and to watch happen – I would know because my grandma , Gloria Davila, died of it on November 9, 2015. She developed dementia just because of one minor car accident. The airbag popped and hit her in the face. The day of the accident the doctor said she was okay.

After the car accident Grandma Gloria was just living a happy life. A couple of years later, my great grandparents and I went to my grandma Gloria’s house to visit her. I remember having a weird feeling, like something bad was going to happen.

My great-grandfather knocked on the door, but there was no answer at first.  We knew she was there because her car was parked in the driveway. We tried again, but still no answer.  Starting to worry, my great-grandma recovered a key to the house from her purse. When we opened the door, I could smell something burning. It was pizza bites overcooked in the oven.

As we walked in we found my grandma unconscious on the ground. “Gloria, Gloria, Gloria,”  my great-grandma called her name out. She wasn’t responding. I hurried and called 911 and soon I saw red, white, and blue lights flashing in the driveway. The paramedics rushed her to the hospital. When we got there, the nurses and doctors were working on her. I could feel the pain of my great-grandma because that was her daughter lying on the table.

As hours went by, the doctors came to talk to us about what had happened. He explained to us that Gloria had developed dementia. At first, I was confused as I didn’t know what to feel. But all I knew was that my whole family’s lives were about to change. After the hospital incident, Gloria went to go live with her daughter which is my mom. The doctor said she wasn’t going to be able to live by herself and that she would need a lot of help as the dementia increases.

A year has gone by and Gloria is in terrible condition. I didn’t think that the dementia would impact her life so fast. My great-grandparents feels so bad that their daughter is slowly dying. Gloria doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t even remember her own daughter. Dementia has impacted my whole family.

On November 8, 2015, we had a caregiver  come take care of Gloria while my mom was at work and me at school. When I got home that day the caregiver told me that Gloria wasn’t doing well and that you could tell she was at her last straw at life.

The next day, the caregiver called my mom saying that she should come home because she thought it was Gloria’s last day with us. My mom texted me that David, my step-dad, was going to come pick me up from school. When I got home I went into Gloria’s room and I went to  hold her hand. Her hand was cold as ice. I remember she opened her eyes and one tear came running down her face. She squeezed my hand tightly. Gloria had taken her last breath. She died on November 9, 2015. When she passed away, I found comfort thinking that she was no longer struggling and that she was now living healthy and happy and peacefully in heaven.

She is looking down on me and my family, loving us.