Briana Cartright

Great-Grandmother: Coretta Cartright (called Nanny)

Coretta is Briana’s mother’s grandmother. She died at 75, when Briana was ten. Coretta raised Briana’s mother, and took care of Briana when her parents had to work. They were together every day until Briana turned seven. They watched Bonanza and ate wheat thins and popsicles, and sat in Coretta’s rocking chair.

"We were very close."

She taught Briana how to cook. The family would watch fireworks over the St. Louis Arch from her porch. She didn’t like the loud noise after awhile, though, and she would go inside.

Briana used to write her name on the walls. One day, Coretta took a marker and drew all over Briana’s arms and legs. Briana got angry and started to cry, and Coretta said "If you don’t like it when people draw on your property then don’t draw on theirs". Briana stopped.

Coretta still took care of everybody the years before she died. Her son was still living at home, and he rarely left his room. Briana described him as "unstable". When two cousins had "family problems", they stayed with her. Coretta enjoyed taking care of people, and Briana loved to be with her. She looked forward to her freeze-pops; Coretta would let her have as many as she wanted. Coretta also had home-made pies and cakes.

The first big change happened when Briana and her parents moved to California (she was eight). The cousins had left, and her Great-uncle passed away. Only a great-aunt was left to take care of Coretta.

"I was like her child…her daughter too because she was always raising me, but then I moved away and I wasn’t there all the time. It came to the point (before I left) where I was like ‘okay, I’m gonna take care of you now’. Then I left and then she started getting sick. And that was weird."

Briana came back a year later to visit and Coretta didn’t remember who she was or what her name was.

"I freaked out!"

Coretta hadn’t had much problem with memory that Briana can remember before the year in California, but Coretta was found to have Alzheimers that same year.

"They told her who I was and that I was part of the family, and she said ‘no, I don’t remember’. Then they told her that I used to come over, that she took care of me, and she played along and said ‘yeah, okay’."

Briana didn’t understand. Her mother explained Alzheimers before they got home, but she didn’t realize how bad it was. She thought it was her fault.

"When she died especially, I was like ‘I shouldn’t’ve left. I was the one. I was there with her every day. I was the one that was there. Maybe if I hadn’t’ve left she’d still be alive’."

Briana thought Coretta had forgotten who she (Briana) was because she had left, and that this was the reason she now couldn’t get out of bed and looked so thin and couldn’t remember anything. Briana blamed her parents for making her move, because she hadn’t wanted to leave in the first place. She said she felt moody and angry while she was back. It also made her treat Coretta like a little kid.

The trip back to St. Louis was only for a few days. Coretta was in the hospital, away from the popsicles and t.v. shows. Coretta asked Briana all about how old she was and where she lived and what her name was. She confused Briana with one of her own daughters. Briana didn’t mind, however, and felt that she was still her Nanny. Briana thought she might get better.

Briana always tried to get her parents over to Coretta’s house. She got them to bring her flowers one time. But her parents didn’t want her to see Coretta in that state.

"They didn’t want that to be my last memory of her. I think that’s good."

"When I see my family I really try to spend a lot of time with them, and know how they’re doing. Nothing’s guaranteed."

Briana has minor fears about having Alzheimers herself. She still doesn’t understand exactly what it is.