A blue glow illuminates her face
Creating shadows in unusual places.
Television eyes bulge from her skull
While everything around them sinks inward.
Limp and frail, like a skeleton covered in skin.
Like a baby bird with no mother,
She is alone, helpless.

Wasting her days away sitting in that chair
I can’t help but wonder, what is she thinking?
I talk to her, ask her how she’s been.
I know she can hear me but I get no response.
A slight noise comes from the bottom of her throat.
My ears perk up just in case, but...nothing.

She stares blankly into space with glazed eyes.
I look at her and try to remember better days
When she was herself:
Helpful, joyous, loving.
She used to smell of hairspray from the morning,
Spending hours on her hair,
Perfect curls every time.
I just don’t see it anymore,
No matter how hard I try.

I can hardly bear to see her.
It brings tears to my eyes
The way she lounges there, lonely in her chair.
It weakens my heart to leave her sitting with no one by her side,
So I whisper to her from the bottom of my heart, “I love you grandma.”
She slowly turns her head and looks at me with her deep blue eyes.
She grabs my hand and squeezes it hard.
Now I know her response.