Woman with ALS shared brilliant idea by which she will always be able to read to her grandkids

Grandparents cherish their time with their grandchildren - reading to them, playing with them, and making their favorite food. Unfortunately, this grandma might be unable to do all of them as she wanted because of her condition called ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). Nonetheless, she has found a creative way to read to her grandchildren. Della—who goes by @dellas.als.journe on TikTok—uploaded a video in which she shares how she will read to her grandkids.

She began the video by admitting, "So one of the hardest things to admit that I'm going to lose is the ability to be with grandchildren." The grandma then shared what she wanted to do with her grandkids. “I have always envisioned myself as having ‘Grandma Camp’ with my 10 little redheaded grandchildren. Yes, I said 10! Painting rocks, building with toys, and reading books, and to lose that has honestly been one of the hardest parts of this,” she confessed.

Della after this spoke about what she would do instead to make sure her grandkids get to read with her. She said, “So what I decided to do and my kindergarten teacher friend would appreciate this...is I have gathered up a whole bunch of some of my favorite books." She interrupted to show one of her favorite kids' books which is called, "The Gruffalo." The grandmother then continued, "What I've done is, I videotape myself reading them, and then I've put that on a private YouTube channel and made a QR code.”

She also made adorable little stickers with QR codes and titled them, "Grandma's Bookshelf." She said that she would be putting the stickers inside the books so the kids could just scan them and see their grandma reading the book to them. "They'll be brought to a video of me reading it to them so they can flip through the book and listen and see me reading,” she explained. Della concluded by saying, “I know it's not the same as having a little one in your lap, but I can guarantee my arms will still be around them."

Della captioned the video, "ALS is stealing my ability to be a grandma, but I have an idea to ensure my grandkids 'know' me." According to the Mayo Clinic, ALS starts with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, trouble swallowing, or slurred speech. Sadly, the disease doesn't have any cure, and eventually, it affects the control of the muscles that are used to move, speak, eat, and breathe.

People on the social media platform found the woman's gesture heart-warming. @user3903682648977 commented, "That is an incredible gift to all your loved ones!" @jendiore wrote, "Elementary librarian here, and 'The Gruffalo' is my favorite! All my kiddos look forward to hearing it every year! It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing for your grandbabies!" @sueann expressed, "Grandma camp "Why is life so unfair? These precious memories of you will be absolutely priceless to them someday. You’ll live on through these books." 

@jennifergoodwin52 shared, "This is just precious. What a keepsake, not just for your grandchildren, but also your children." @sugriz said, "What a wonderful idea! My sister had ALS and that was the hardest part for her, not being able to hug and hold the grandkids but she did as long as she could and did it longer than ever predicted." As many commented life can be unfair but this wonderful idea will help Della's grandkids to get to know her and beautifully remember her.

You can follow Della (@dellas.als.journe) on TikTok for more content on her ALS journey.