He Visited His Hospitalized Grandpa, but Days Later His Mom Told Him to Drop Everything and Return
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Some decisions are harder when you know you may not get another chance to make them.
One grandchild is facing that now after recently traveling home to visit his 87-year-old grandfather in the hospital.
At the time, the family worried it might be the last visit, but his pacemaker surgery was successful and he was released.
Unfortunately, he’s now back in the hospital with inflammation and kidney failure, and the family is asking everyone to come again.
The problem is that the grandson is exhausted and desperately wants one weekend at home to rest.
Keep reading for the full story.
AITAH for not visiting my grandpa in the hospital again?
My grandpa is 87. He has dementia and has been in my mother’s and aunt’s care. They have been taking daily turns staying with him for the past 2–3 years.
My 2 cousins and I live in another town, 100 km away, which is a 1.5-hour car ride or a 2-hour train ride. But whenever we traveled home, we visited him every time.
Last week, he was admitted to the hospital with low blood pressure, and he needed surgery for a pacemaker. The 3 of us were asked to travel home last weekend to visit him, as it may be the last time we can see him, and we all did. We visited him, but he barely recognized us, and we couldn’t even hold a proper conversation.
His mother thinks he needs to come home and see his grandfather again.
The surgery was successful on Monday. He was allowed to leave, but yesterday he had to be admitted to the hospital again with inflammation and kidney failure.
I got a call from my mother saying that I should come home yet again to visit, as again, this might be the last time we can see him.
I do not have any urgent plans for the weekend. I am totally free. But I haven’t been able to stay at my own home and rest for a weekend for the past month.
There are several reasons he’d rather stay home.
I work 9–5, I still study, and all my days off are “wasted” on Friday classes and exams, so I can’t even take a week off for a holiday. All the rest I can get is on the weekends.
And honestly, I just don’t feel like taking a 2-hour ride back and forth home again in this 40°C summer heat. I also haven’t cleaned my flat in a month, which I planned to do this weekend.
What sucks is that my two other cousins are traveling home again this weekend for an unrelated reason, so I would be the only one from the family who didn’t visit him this time.
AITA?
Oh no! That sounds like a really tough decision.
Let’s take a look at what advice the folks over at Reddit have to offer him.
As this comment explains, dementia is hard but you have to deal with it.
As this reader explains, the visit is more for his mother and aunt than his grandfather.
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Here’s someone with a similar idea.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who stops helping his neighbors out with his snowplow after they complain about his farm.
Yet another person suggesting he do it for his mom.
This is such a tough decision.
On one hand, he’s exhausted and wants just one weekend at home.
But if there’s a real chance this could be the last time he sees his grandpa, he may come to regret the fact that he didn’t go.
The apartment can wait. This may be one of those weekends he can’t get back.
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