This year when I was home for the holidays I noticed the same phenomenon that started happening about a year and a half ago, right around the time that my grandmother left my grandfather to live in a nursing home. My grandfather, who has always been boisterous and the first to give someone a good, happy yelling, has been slightly more withdrawn. He lives alone and goes to family gatherings without her, looking a little like the picture below.

Today I took him to visit my grandma (his wife) in the nursing home. The sun was bouncing off his permanent smile as he sat in the car next to me on our way over, a baseball cap with a random logo shading his eyes, excited about my GPS and the route we were taking this time. My grandma varies from visit to visit in terms of clarify. Today she was not too bad. While watching his expression as he interacted with her, I was reminded of an adult whose child says something that they think is extraordinary or brilliant. He was happy. As we were leaving he kissed her tightly three times on her mouth. As we were heading off to the elevators his walk seemed to be a little slower.