My Papa Joe is 85 and has been faithfully married to my grandma for 60 years. His memory is slipping and he is really slowing down.

Today, he asked me to take him to Walmart because he wanted to get out of the house. I was thankful he asked because, as many of us know, he shouldn’t be driving. I thought it would also benefit grandma to have the house to herself for a while, not having to worry about grandpa for a few hours.

I watched him, cane in hand, taking the tiniest steps all around Walmart...I had no idea what he was after. I just thought he wanted out of the house. But as I observed each item he put in the cart, I noticed a theme. They were some of my grandma’s favorite things.

He got a bottle of her favorite soda. He carefully picked out a bag of her favorite grapes. He even bought her a small lemon pie...and then, my eyes welled with tears as I watched him hobble over to the fresh flowers and pick her the bouquet that had the most purple in it. 

On our way home, he insisted we stop and grab a sandwich to take home for grandma’s lunch! May we all take a lesson from Papa Joe. Never stop being intentional!!!