Additional Coverage:
- I spent summers in Transylvania with my grandfather when I was little. Now he’s 97, so I moved there to be closer to him. (businessinsider.com)
A Journey Back to Transylvania
From childhood summers filled with vampire tales and monkey bars to a present supporting her 97-year-old grandfather, a woman shares her heartwarming story of transatlantic love and care.
As a child, the author’s summers were spent in Transylvania, a place her classmates associated with Dracula and vampires. For her, however, Transylvania meant time with her beloved grandfather.
Beginning at age seven, she flew as an unaccompanied minor from London to Bucharest, then took an eight-hour train to Cluj, where adventures awaited. Days were filled with park visits, hilltop climbs overlooking the city, and even discovering fields of four-leaf clovers.
Her grandfather, a retired set designer, nurtured her creativity in his art studio, filled with canvases, oil paints, and a rescued black cat.
Their bond continued into her adulthood. Just last year, they rode Romania’s last working forestry steam train, a journey that sparked stories of her grandfather’s youth.
When a stroke left him partially blind and needing support, she and her boyfriend relocated from London to Cluj. Now, her days revolve around her grandfather’s care.
Short walks, grocery trips, and monthly prescription refills have become their new shared adventures. Though hesitant to label herself his caregiver, she embraces the role reversal, from protected child to protector.
A family friend recalled the author’s grandfather always taking children seriously, truly entering their world. It’s a quality she now mirrors in her care for him.
A simple request for a religious calendar becomes a meaningful mission to the cathedral in the city center. Small acts of love, like a walk down the street or a visit to his old art studio, hold the same weight as their past grand expeditions.
Even on his 97th birthday, a challenging trip to his studio became a shared “adventure,” a testament to their enduring bond.