Grateful

Tonight’s visit with Gram was, on the surface, uneventful.  She was sitting in the wheelchair in the lunch room sound asleep.  She gets like this after a few days of activity - activity that is nothing less than amazing for a woman of her 97 years.  She walks and wheels herself all over the facility; she visits other patients in their rooms; and she sometimes gets behind the nurse’s station as if she works there.  It’s a pattern; she goes and goes for a few days and nights (she tends to be a night owl) and then she stops and sleeps to recharge.  Sometimes she sleeps for a couple days.  It’s a deep slumber.  In fact, when she first started sleeping like this a few years ago, I would find myself checking to be sure she was alive.  Her breathing becomes so soft and shallow and her body so still that I would put my head on her chest to ensure she was breathing.  I’ve learned to never try to wake her either.  The one and only time I tried THAT, it took a long time for her to respond and when she did, she almost killed me!  I sometimes wonder when she’s in this slumber, if she’s taking a peek at the “other side.”  It seems like she’s not even there - her body is breathing, but she’s not there.  In fact, I joke about that, saying she’s checking out the other side for a bit.  She comes back, though, because she’s not quite ready to go there.  And believe me; well all agree that SHE will decide when it’s time for her to go. 

It wasn’t quite so uneventful in my head tonight, I suppose.  As I sat there with her, quietly, I thought about how grateful I am for the care that she gets there.   Gary, Stefanie, and Chris were the aides on tonight.  Gary and Stefanie have been there for a while, at least a few years.  Chris is newer.  They are all my favorites.  They love Gram.  They care for her as if she was their own family.  They feel like family to me too.  Rightfully so, I go there often and see them more than some of my own family.  I always try to thank them for caring for my Gram.  I can’t thank them enough, though. 

Gary and Stefanie came in as I was getting ready to go and we talked for a few minutes.  They joked that it was time for them to get Gram changed and ready for bed and that they would get beat up when they tried to do so.  They were really not joking though.  Stefanie has been bitten at least once by Gram and they’ve both been punched.  The laughed and told me that once she’s changed and lying down, she’s completely calm and sweet.  Regardless, they take excellent care of her.

Gram fell twice in the last two days.  I get calls every time she falls, which is probably twice a month on average.  It’s required by law, I believe, that they call.  Gary, Stefanie and I were talking about this, too.  It’s amazing how she just gets up and continues along her way.  People her age don’t do that!  They break bones and die.  We talked about how many people we’ve seen who fall and within a couple of weeks, they die.  Gram is remarkable.  Her first fall this week, she tumbled out of the chair and hit her head.  They said she used some profanity, got up, and then went about her business.