Orneriness to a Smile

When I came in to see Grandma today, she was just finishing being showered. When she came out, I asked her how she was, and she said she was feeling ornery. Her brother Paul passed on today (or last night); this was the reason.

But throughout the visit Grandma did positive things. The aide who helped her shower was new, and Grandma told her that she did a fantastic job - that she was one of the best ones. When I clipped her toenails (at her request) she was very appreciative. Her skin was so soft and nice from the shower! In fact, once we got her into bed, she looked so cozy and warm that I just had to take a picture! (Pardon the wet hair.)

We chatted. When her toes were finished, she was sleepy and ready to nap. She just needed chocolate. Thin Mints were the only chocolate to be found, so she enjoyed two cookies and gave me two to enjoy too. (I couldn't resist.) When I left, she was smiling.

Provo Puzzle

When I arrived, Grandma was up and on her way to the bathroom! I love it when she's being independent. While she was busy, I noticed there was some Girl Scout paraphernalia around the room: a pin and a reusable grocery bag with the Girl Scout logo. When Grandma finished, we had some Girl Scout Cookies! She wanted Samoas. We saved the Thin Mints for later. She didn't go back to bed; we settled by the refrigerator.

She received dinner and knew she couldn't eat all of it, so she decided to save some of it for Grandpa. I told this to Grandpa and said that he should come hungry. Then Elizabeth arrived, with fruit and vegetable party trays! They were left over from something at work. Grandpa and David arrived, hungry. I'm afraid they were never fully satisfied...

Once everyone was there, Grandma went back to bed and we just talked. Grandma didn't say much. The conversation revolved around Grandpa's opinions of physical therapy and hospice (he's very frustrated). Then, David helped lighten the mood by telling about when a polygamist crashed a YSA dance, and an ensuing activity in California (the bishop gave him a straight talk and he never came back)

Elizabeth went home. I'd brought a gift for Grandma: a beautiful, 100-piece puzzle of the Provo Temple! We cleared off the TV table and started working on it!

Grandma wanted David to read everything on the box...so he did ("RobertABoyd.com." "RobertABoyd.com."). Grandpa mostly watched while the three of us worked on it. David and I play-fought over pieces of the temple and the American flag. He actually hid some until the end!

Then, she finished the puzzle.

The last piece!

Grandma loved the puzzle! She said they did a good job at making the puzzle challenging but not too hard. The puzzle pieces are bigger than the puzzles usually in the nursing home. She did a significant bit of it, which made me happy because lately when I've gone with her to the normal puzzles with tiny pieces, she's struggled to do much with it. It was a lovely ending to the night.

Pictures of Grandma!

Below are pictures from a couple of visits over the last two months. I don't remember much about them by now, but they say pictures are worth a thousand words anyways...

JULY 23RD

4:20 PM

(I wish I remembered what this was about too.)

AUGUST 6

3:15 PM

I think I may have brought a book too...and we read together.

 AUGUST 10

6:18 PM

Here, she's enjoying one of my homemade banana muffins! She was ready for dinner and I happened to have them with me. She insisted on butter and really, really loved them.

SEPTEMBER 1

12:49 PM

This may not be a great picture of her, but it does show her enjoying a piece of chocolate. (Sorry about the quality.) I think she had me throw away the wrappers afterward and joked that later she would be able to get more chocolate and whoever got it for her wouldn't know she'd already had some.

The next post will be about a visit with David, Elizabeth, Grandpa, and I...and of course Grandma...and include several nice pictures!

Recipe Queen

Grandma came to dinner tonight and was in good form. Grandpa, David, Robyn, and Kevin were there with Elizabeth and I too. She interjected comments - verbally and physically - with great comedic timing. When Elizabeth told her that the roast recipe used tonight was from Grandma, she beat on her chest with her fist - like, "I am Grandma the recipe queen, hear me roar!" The recipe uses potatoes and apples, and Grandma said she got it from her grandma (although David commented that Grandma added her own twist to it).

The rest of her jokes currently slip my mind. As usual Grandma was considerate of her food and asked to take home what she couldn't finish. She left in good time before she got too tired. It was a good night.

Last night, Elizabeth visited and apparently Grandma was really, really relaxed and peaceful - not "good company," but in good humor. She was wearing her pink pajamas and in bed, and was very contented.

Not Completely On Hiatus

Hello! Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been really busy with work. I've taken pictures but haven't posted them, and since I need to get to bed soon I won't post them now. Hopefully I'll post them in the next month (it's still busy), and from now on when I visit her I'll try to bring my laptop and write the blog posts as I sit with her.

Grandma came to dinner tonight and commanded two water cups at the table, so she'd never run out. :) She cleaned her plate and enjoyed root beer cake for dessert. David, who is visiting (and spending a lot of time with her, I'm sure), took her back to the center before she took a dive due to lack of meds. She was quiet but soft-spoken. When we talked about Idaho she helped tell a visitor the towns she grew up in ("Malad"), and after she accidentally dropped a piece of chicken on the ground she made me wash it off and give it back.

Brownies & Beds

Today was another day where she was struggling and I came in to help. She asked me to give her sips of water. She couldn’t talk well. One of the first things she told me was that she’d been “stupid” and had “pushed [her]self” too hard. I didn’t press for details. I’d brought my laptop, and offered her a choice of music: classical, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Shirley Temple. Guess which one she picked? (Hint: the answer is always c.) During the “Animal Crackers” song, she told me that it was a very popular song when she was a little girl! (Of course. It’s a classic!)

She looked at some family photos in a little album and on my laptop, and enjoyed it even though she couldn’t remember everyone’s names. Softly and earnestly, she said she loves all her grandchildren though and she knows them, even if she can’t think of their names. She asked me to make a list of people for a party; the list was all her female descendants. She really loves you all, boys and girls!

She could talk better by the time I left (and Grandpa arrived), but I wasn’t sure if she’d come to dinner. She did, though! However, she decided it was a mistake when she arrived; she didn’t feel well enough to sit at the table. Dinner was an unusually small affair of 4 without her and the usual others. She lay on the couch for a while, used the bathroom, and then settled down well in Elizabeth’s room on the bed, reading the newspaper. She wasn’t very interested in most of the meal, but when Elizabeth offered her dessert (ice cream, raspberries and black bean brownies) she had two helpings!

See how nicely the bed and bedding matches her clothes? Perfect outfit. :)

Before heading out again, Grace stepped in the room for a couple of minutes to be with Grandma. Grandma saw her shoes (Easter pastel purple Steve Madden Wedges), she gasped, “Oh my goodness! Those are glamorous!”

Soon after, when she’d finished her dessert, she allowed me to take the above photos and clean her fingernails, and then talked with Cathy on the phone for a few minutes (she was talking pretty well!). Then she told me she was pretty well talked out. However, around half an hour later Elizabeth connected her with David – so she got to talk to 2 of her out-of-town kids today!

Last Wednesday, July 10

The highlight of this visit, for me and Grandpa, was a mattress.

We helped Grandma look over and see it. She was quiet but seemed to be having a good night. 

Now YOU can sleep when Grandma does!

4th of July!

Grandma went up to the Sundance Cabin on Independence Day this year! She sat in the rocking chair surrounded by family and was relatively perky. Gardens were on her mind; she asked Daniel (I think) if he has a garden, and she kept saying that she wanted to see the garden there at the cabin. She took a lie down at one point; apparently she loved the bedrooms and kept asking where the furniture was purchased, and then felt a little sheepish that she couldn't remember where she got them.

Soon after her return, she was ready to go outside! She said she wanted to take a walk around the cabin. I gave Elizabeth a look that said, "Aaaahhhhh but she can't handle thatwhat're we gonna do?!?" We did. We helped her walk out onto the back porch. We invited her to come back inside, but she wanted to go around the cabin. We had her take the newer stairs, which are safer than the old ones. And we walked her around. When she saw the front garden area (a wildflower garden, not a vegetable garden) she was disappointed in the tall grasses/weeds that where there, and wanted to weed! By this time she was ready to sit down, and sit down she did, by a post holding up the balcony. Soon we helped her move to an area with a little wall (it's at 9:00 if you're facing the cabin). There were plenty of weeds there, and she went to it with a will!

She felt good about what she'd done but wished she could work on the real area - the flower garden. I remember her weeding that garden a few years ago, too.

As Grandma was working away, Paul's dog Chuck was happily somewhere nearby in the grass. As Paul was driving out, he called him. Chuck came out with something gray and furry in his mouth! Our best guess is that he was gnawing away at a dead squirrel, and the tail's what he brought out. I didn't get a picture of it, unfortunately, but the reason I'm mentioning it here is because Chuck dropped his catch, not at Paul's feet, but at Grandma's. He knows who's the queen around here!

Yesterday, July 5th, I spent a bit of time with Grandma during the afternoon. We mostly read the papers together. An aid came in with Hershey's Kisses for Grandma - she'd asked him for chocolate, and though he was thinking, "We're not a convenience store," he found some! After he presented her his catch, I showed him the chocolate stash in Grandma's fridge for future reference.

After she used the bathroom, she just wanted to sit on her bed, not lie down on it. I was feeling sleepy, so I sat down too and we lied back on the rumpled blankets together, she reading and me dozing. I took the picture of us below.

Elizabeth visited her that night and said Grandma was pretty tired. But because I went during a good time, we knew that contrary to our fears, the Independence Day jaunt didn't completely wipe Grandma out.