‘The Weekend I Baby-Sat Grandma’

The next morning when Grandma tried to add milk to her coffee, it spilled all over the table. She held the cereal box close to her eyes to read its contents.

“Googa,” I asked, “are you having trouble seeing things?”

“Of course not!” she said, and her face got red. Then, a tear ran down her cheek. “Well, sometimes, but it’s nothing, just a part of growing old.”

“Maybe there are things to help you see better.”

“I know. A magnifying glass. I use one to read the newspaper at home,” Googa said.

“We could put a bright tape on the edge of the garage steps so you won’t trip.”

“That would be very thoughtful,” Googa said.

“Maybe you should ask your eye doctor whether new glasses would help,” I said.

Grandma nodded.

“What about money, Googa?” I asked. “If you can’t see well enough to tell the difference between a dollar and $10 ... “

With trembling hands, and eyes averted, Grandma put her coffee cup down. “Yes, that’s a problem.”

I brought all my money to the kitchen table and laid it out in piles of $1s, $5s, $10s and $20s. Googa had to bring each bill close to her eyes to see what it was worth.

“I have an idea,” I said. “Look! We’ll make all the $1s lay flat. The $5s we’ll fold in half. The $10s we’ll fold length-wise. The $20s

Grandma supplied the answer. “A paper clip on $20s!” She sounded excited by the plan. “Now, let’s play Monopoly, handsome, and this time I’ll be the bank!”

When Mom and Dad got home, Grandma joked that I baby-sat her, instead of the other way around. But best of all, Mom and Dad knew that Grandma had vision problems and they were going to find lots of other ways to help her.

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Author’s note: The Braille Institute is a private, nonprofit organization with resources for people with blindness and severe sight loss. To learn more, go to www.brailleinstitute.org. The American Foundation for the Blind is a national nonprofit that works to expand the opportunities of the 10 million Americans who are blind or visually impaired. Visit AFB online at www.afb.org.

This story will be on The Times’ website at latimes.com/kids. A new, five-part story begins on Monday.