One thing that I wanted to do while my parents were in town was visit my
Grandma. I have not seen her since I
visited her right before Covid shut everything down. It is not as much fun to go alone so I wanted
to be able to go with my parents. Unfortunately, I had to work the day they planned
to go celebrate her birthday, so my mom and I planned our own trip the week
before.
In these last couple years, my grandma has declined quite a bit. She used to talk a lot. Her stories would be about the past when she
was a child or first married (or even made-up stories about my grandpa working
in another country to justify why he wasn’t around). This time, she was in quite the mood. She
barely uttered a few words and just looked at us as if she was trying to figure
out who we were.
I can not imagine how hard it would be to be lost in your own mind. Having people call you “mom” and “Grandma”
and not know who they are. Having people
want to talk to you and asking you questions and not recognize them. I am very thankful that I was able to go with
my mom and not have to experience it alone.
I don’t know how much longer my grandma will be around so every time I see
her, I treat as if it may be the last… so of course I made sure to take
pictures. She was not thrilled about it.
This summer we also had a small memorial for dad’s mother. She passed away years ago and we had a big memorial
when she did but before she died, she had always said that she wanted to be
buried under a tree in my parent’s backyard.
So, since all the relatives were invited into town for my parent’s 50th
anniversary party we also planned a time to bury my grandma. We made to let all my aunts and uncles know
they were invited to the event but most of them opted out of coming so it was just
a small event.
My Dad and Uncle Duffy went to pick out the tree before the weekend and
my Dad dug the hole where the tree was going to buried. We started off with a time to share our
favorite stories about Grandma. Some of the stories were funny stories about
things she had done and other were more serious and sweet stories (like making
Jimmy and Karen matching pillowcases for Christmas when they were just first
dating). After Uncle Duffy put the ashes
in, Jimmy had the honor of putting in the tree.
My Mom and Dad finished the job of adding more dirt and spreading the
beauty bark. Now it is my responsibility
to make sure the tree stays alive (anyone who knows me that they chose the wrong
person for the job).
Afterwards, we enjoyed leftover tacos from my parent’s anniversary party
and visited for a while since it was the last time with my parents until they
come back for the holidays.
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