Back toUpdated on February 24, 2024
There are many responsibilities in being a caregiver. Kris discusses how she cares for her grandmother and prioritizes her well-being.
Transcript
No matter what this disease takes away, at her core she still is my grandma. [MUSIC PLAYING]
KRIS (VOICEOVER): Taking care of my grandma really happened kind of serendipitously. My grandma had always been my best friend, and my mom had placed her in a nursing home.
And I just felt like, if Grandma stayed in the nursing home any longer, she wouldn't have the quality of life that I could have provided her.
And I really wanted to give her more than what she was getting. I just thought it was the right thing to do. KRIS (VOICEOVER): We've always had a really strong connection
my whole life. I moved in with her as a teenager. I had a really kind of troubling time. I was dealing with depression, and my grandma
kind of saved me and provided me with so much love and dedication. I'm just providing her what she provided to me.
What do I have to do? Nothing, just stay beautiful. KRIS (VOICEOVER): At this stage of my grandma's Alzheimer's
disease, she's not as vocal, and her vocabulary doesn't make as much sense as it used to. She's losing the ability to understand and reason.
She's angry with herself that she can't get out what she wants to say. KRIS (VOICEOVER): When I was a child and I didn't communicate,
my grandma used to squeeze my hand for "I love you" and different things like that. So we just kind of communicate through love.
Throughout this journey, I really have tried to focus on not forgetting who she is to me. My grandma used to love driving around in her car.
And we'd do some car picnics, where we'd go and get something to eat and eat in the car, like she used to do with me when I was a kid.
[LAUGHING] I really feel like we've built such an incredible trust and bond through the progression of her disease.
She's the matriarch of our family, and that will never change. So I really try not to take that away from us because it
is such a special connection. I don't want to sit here with anybody but you. KRIS (VOICEOVER): I've always known
that my grandma is the strongest woman I have ever met. I've always known that she's got the biggest heart.
I'm really just so grateful and thankful for her. I couldn't forget you. Oh.
