第34章TheIceCreamGirl
Eleanordidn'tknorongwithGrandma。Shewasalwaysfthings，likewheresheputthesugar，whentopayherbills，andwhattimetobereadytobepickedupfroceryshopping。
“withGrandma?”Eleanorasked。“Sheusedtobesueatlady。Nowshelookssadandlostanddoesn'trememberthings。”
“Grandma'sjustgettingold，”Mothersaid。“Shehtno>
“os;sitliketogetold?”Eleanorasked。“Doeseverybs?WillI?”“Netsthiheygetold，EleahinkGrandmamayhaveAlzheimer'sdisease，andthatmakesherfetmore。utherinanursihepropereeds。”
“Oh，Mom!That'sterrible!She'llmissherownlittlehousesomup;apos;tshe?”
“Maybe，butthereisn'tmuchelsewep;apos;llgetgoodcarethereandmakesomenewfriends。”
Eleanorlookedsorrowful。Shedidn'tliketheideaatall。
“wegoaen?”sheasked。“I'llmisstalkingtoGrandma，evenifsheds。”
“Weweekends，”Motheranswered。“Wetakeherapresent。”“Likeicecream?Grarawberry，icecream!”Eleanorsmiled。
“Strawberryicecreamitis!”Mothersaid。
&imetheyvisitedGrandmainthenursinghome，Eleaocry。
“Mom，almostallofthepeopleareinwheelchairs，”shesaid。
&obe。Otherwisethey'dfall，”Motherexplained。“NowwhenyouseeGrandma，smileandtellherhowniceshelooks。”
Grandmasatallbyherselfiheroomtheycalledthesunparlor。Shesatlookingoutatthetrees。
Eleanrandma。“Look，”shesaid，“webroughtyouapresent——yourfavorite，strawberryicecream!”
GrandmatooktheDixiedthespooingwithoutsayingaword。
“I'msureshe'senjoyingit，dear，”Eleanor'smotherassuredher。
“Butshedoesn'tseemtoknowus。”Eleanorointed。
“Youhavetogivehertime，”Mothersaid。“She'sinnewsurroundings，aomakea。”
ButtheheyvisitedGrandmaitwasthesame。Sheatetheicedsmiledatthem，butshedidn'tsayanything。
“Grandma，doyouknowwhoIam?”Eleanorasked。
“You&apirlwhsmetheicecream，”Grandmasaid。
&I'mEleanor，tranddaughter。Don'tyourememberme。”Sheasked，throwingherarmsaroundtheoldlady。
Graly。
"Remember?SureIremember。You&apirlwhsmeicecream。
SuddenlyEleahatGrandmawouldneverrememberher。Grandmawaslivinginaworldallherown，inaworldofshadowymemoriesandloneliness。
“Oh，howIloveyou，Grandma!”shesaid。Justtheearrolldoos;scheek。
“Love，”shesaid。“Irememberlove。”
“Yousee，dear，that'sallshewants，”Mothersaid。“Love。”
“I&aphericecreameveryweekendthen，andhugherevenifshedoesn'trememberme，”Eleanorsaid。
&hatwasmoreimportant——torememberloveratherthansomeone'sname。