My parents told Grandma they were taking her out to lunch. Three hours later, a nursing facility called me. Her suitcase was sitting in their lobby, and my parents were nowhere to be found. I drove 190 miles to bring her back with me. She clicked her seatbelt into place, looked straight at me, and said, \u201cDon\u2019t call them. I\u2019ll tell you exactly where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n
My parents told Grandma they were taking her out to lunch. Three hours later, a nursing facility called me. Her suitcase was sitting in their lobby, and my parents were nowhere to be found. I drove 190 miles to bring her back with me. She clicked her seatbelt into place, looked straight at me, and said, \u201cDon\u2019t call them. I\u2019ll tell you exactly where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n
My parents told Grandma Eleanor they were taking her to lunch.<\/p>\n
Three hours later, a nursing facility in Ohio called me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this Daniel Mercer?\u201d the woman asked. \u201cYour grandmother listed you as her emergency contact. Her suitcase is still here in our lobby, but the family members who brought her left before the admission paperwork was finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was standing in the kitchen of my Indianapolis apartment, holding a cup of coffee I suddenly had no desire to drink.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, they left?\u201d<\/p>\n
The administrator hesitated. \u201cThey said they had to get some paperwork from their car. They never came back.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called my father. It went straight to voicemail.<\/p>\n
Then my mother. Same thing.<\/p>\n
I drove 190 miles with both hands locked around the steering wheel.<\/p>\n
When I got there, Grandma was sitting beside a single brown suitcase and a grocery bag packed with medications. She was still wearing her church coat even though the lobby was warm. Her gray hair remained carefully pinned, and her face had that calm expression it always took on whenever she was furious.<\/p>\n
I crouched beside her. \u201cGrandma.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me for several long seconds. Then she got to her feet.<\/p>\n
No tears. No questions.<\/p>\n
She walked out toward my car, climbed into the passenger seat, and buckled her seatbelt.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t call them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you where to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, the county courthouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
That got my attention immediately.<\/p>\n
Once we were back on the highway, she opened her purse and handed me a folded bank statement. Three withdrawals had been circled in red. Twelve thousand dollars. Eighteen thousand. Twenty-five thousand.<\/p>\n
All taken within six weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father has power of attorney,\u201d she explained. \u201cTemporary. I signed it after my surgery because I trusted him.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me I was starting to become forgetful. He said I needed help handling the bills.\u201d She stared out the window. \u201cThen yesterday, I found this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you confront him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said the money was being used to pay for my care.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced toward the lone suitcase sitting in the back seat.<\/p>\n
Grandma let out a humorless laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt lunch today, your mother told me we were stopping somewhere that had a garden. They walked me into that facility, finished none of the paperwork, and vanished.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed. Dad.<\/p>\n
Grandma reached over and turned it face down.<\/p>\n
\u201cCourthouse first,\u201d she repeated. \u201cThen the bank. Then there\u2019s one more place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat place?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked directly into my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy house.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if they\u2019ve done what I think they\u2019ve done, your parents didn\u2019t just leave me there today.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached inside her coat and pulled out a small envelope. Across the front, written in my grandfather\u2019s handwriting, were two words: HOUSE DEED.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hid this before they came to pick me up,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to know whether they would go looking for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wanted me out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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