One Day with Grandpa

by Jon Carnes
(Minneapolis, MN, USA)

One day, my grandfather simply couldn’t recognize my face anymore.


This was when I was far younger than I am now, back in the early 1990s.


He’s dead now, but I remember coming into his house without announcing myself, and waving.


He seemed to be staring right through me, and though he was aware of a presence in front of him, was not clear as to what it actually was.


He actually seemed frightened, and I was frightened too.


Once I announced myself, and asked him what was wrong, he seemed to know who I was.


It wasn’t until several months later that I learned he was losing his vision.


It turned out that he was suffering from what is commonly referred to as Wet Macular Degeneration, a condition with no known remedies at the time.


He never went blind as a result of it, but until his death in 1998, he would have to turn to the side to look at peoples faces.