loved ones

Hi guys!

Me and Mum visited my beloved grandma in the retirement home on Friday and I was glad to be able to take some photos of them. Unfortunately we never know how long my grandma will still be with us because she is old and suffers from dementia.

Please don't be shocked about the bruises on her face. Due to the dementia she behaves like a little child and forgets that walls are not build to run into them or that she needs a walking frame to go to the toilet at night. The other day she wanted to get out of her bed at night in the dark and fell straight on her face, that's why she looks so black and blue. Fortunately it only looks awful but it doesn't hurt her anymore.






Above you can see three generations in one picture: Grandma, Mum and me. It was important for me to take such a picture so we have a nice memory captured in a photo in case my grandma suddenly passes away. It can happen anytime.
The dementia makes her hurt herself almost everyday - unintendedly of course! Most of the time she just doesn't know what she is doing, so she falls or runs against door frames or gets into mischief. Normally she only has little ailments as a result but who knows what she will be up to next or what she imagines in her confused old mind.






Look how cute she is. I think she didn't even know what "to take a photo" means in this moment. It's a shame she ended up like that, all her life she was a strong and independent woman. She grew up in WWII, saw how bombs fell on her hometown, worked hard in several factories, walked long distances to work every morning and evening, buried two husbands, lived alone in a huge house for a long time and now she can't even differentiate between her daughter, granddaughter and the nurse.
The saddest thing is that when she has a "clear moment" every once in a while she remembers her house and says she would like to go home now please. It breaks my mother's heart that she can't bring her back, but we can't change the situation. We're trying to make her feel good where she is now as long as it's still possible.

Now for something not so sad: after visiting my grandma I also visited my best friend and his dogs. On the radio they said that it's International Dog Day, so it's quite fitting that today's post includes my favourite dogs :)
Let me introduce you:









Cora is the most darling dog in the world. She's a Rottweiler-German Shepherd mix and about 12 years old. My best friend and his family lived right across the street from our old house so Cora has always been the dog I couldn't have myself because of my allergies. I saw her everyday and went to visit her even when my best friend's family was not at home because she felt lonely then. I love her more than most human beings, she has always been like a special friend. I hope she still has some more nice years ahead before she goes to dog heaven.

Braskar and Juna are young jumping jacks. My best friend got them one and two years ago because he wanted his own dogs. Braskar is a Labrador-American Pitbull mix and Juna is a purebred American Pitbull. No prejudices please, all of them are well-behaved and absolutely darling fellas :)







I saved the best two photos for last. The first one is the prettiest photo I've ever gotten of me and Cora and as a little gem I also have a puppy photo of Braskar (getting on Cora's nerves), because he's the most photogenic of them all:



Cora enjoys being cuddled :)

This was taken when Braskar was only a few weeks old, such a little cutie :D

(the photo is borrowed from my best friend's facebook page)


I know this was a lot of text and many pics, I hope you enjoyed it all though.
Happy Sunday to you!





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