smc

In $1994$, if Water is $x$ years old, then Walter's grandmother is $2x$ years old. This means that Walter was born in $1994-x$, and Walter's grandmother was born in $1994-2x$. The sum of those years is $3838$, so we have: $1994-x+1994-2x=3838$ $3988-3x=3838$ $x=50$ If Walter is $50$ years old in $1994$, then he will be $55$ years old in $1999$, thus giving answer $\boxed{55}$