Thursday, November 07, 2013

Talk About Family Tuesday

My parents came to visit this past weekend and we truly had a very nice time. It went too fast, though, with my mother receiving a phone call that her mother had been taken to the hospital. They left early, of course. Her mom, my Gram has been on my mind since. She's a great lady. She is small, only 4'10" with very white hair. In my youth, she was my spunky caregiver during the days while my parents were at work, in the summer. When Mom would take me to Gram's house, her house smelled like coffee, and the radio was on-talk radio. {It's funny, as I typed that I realized that is how I start my day thirty years later...} She was either making oatmeal or toast with peanut butter or powdered sugar on it. She had two spare bedrooms. One had a bed and it was where we spent "afternoon rest time", read and played sometimes. The other spare room was a corner room with windows that let in wonderful light. She had a plant stand in front of one where she kept all her houseplants. She even had cactus that she trimmed. She had an old typewriter in there and a place to sit and type whatever you wanted. I loved that thing. LOVED it. I felt so grown up using it. :) Many days she made us fish sticks and macaroni and cheese for lunch. Gram and Gramp, Mom's dad, were always busy. They took us to garage sales, or the grocery or to visit family. They were retired, even though my Gramp did odd jobs at a local lawyer's office. They took good care of us. Once my grandfather grew purple grapes in their backyard. They turned them into a delicious grape juice and jam.
More recently, in the last ten years, we would have Gram, who never learned to drive, come stay with us for a week at a time, a few different times per year. We would always take a day trip to the local metro gardens and take lots of pictures. It was nice having her at my house, spending time with my children. She didn't mind our dogs, either, and enjoyed walking the girls to school, too. As she got older it seemed to tire her out, but she enjoyed it and had a good afternoon nap. :) Then she had a stroke a few years back and couldn't come visit. Now she gets so confused when we visit her. She can't remember family member's names. She still seems happy to see my family and I when we visit, but, boy is it hard. She was living at a home that had been made into a care facility, but this week they found that she may have been over medicated and my family decided to move her somewhere with more, round the clock care. It is sad and difficult to see our dearest family get older. Even harder still for those who live close and take part in caring for and making decisions for those loved ones. I'm a few hours away, which has its drawbacks, too. My grandfather passed away about 15 years ago, and I know she misses him.

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