Some of the news was good: Paul finally called! It was so great to hear his voice and he is having an awesome time in Taiwan meeting all his relatives for the first time.

Some of it was, well, less than stellar: My grandmother is showing signs of the early stages of Alzheimer's. At least, according to some doctor in Taiwan. I am not all that confident in the abilities of doctor's in Asian countries because at least some of them seem to have the tendency to randomly diagnose people with things they just heard about at conferences. But my grandmother's short term memory was clearly not so great during her most recent trip here and my aunt in Taiwan said there's been a lot of other peculiar behavior related to cleanliness and forgetting she was already wearing pants and pulling another pair over the pair she was already wearing. Not Good things like that.

I think we are all somewhat in disbelief because really, she didn't seem that bad in August. Her long-term memory was still perfect as ever and she seemed to selectively remember things. If anything my grandfather seemed much more confused and disoriented and we were actually much more worried about him. But I guess if it is true and my grandmother does have Alzheimer's it's time to start dealing with it. My mom is thinking about going back to Taiwan for a few months at the beginning of next year and hopefully Paul and I will be able to take a trip there together after the wedding since it looks like my grandparents probably won't be able to come here. *Sigh* It kind of sucks that the first wedding my grandma won't be able to make it to will be mine, but c'est la vie. I just want her to be okay. It's really scary to think that there's a possibility she might not recognize me the next time I see her. After all this was the woman who potty-trained me when I was one and walked me to the bus stop in the mornings when I started kindergarten.

All of this has also gotten me thinking about my own parents and about how they are getting older and that scares the bejeezus out of me. I can't imagine my life without my mom and dad and honestly? I really don't want to. I depend on them for so much, even just the idea of them makes me feel better a lot of the time. Bah. This whole getting older thing sure has its downfalls.