On a personal note…

My paternal grandmother celebrated her 97th birthday this past April. She has appeared before in my blog…I related the story of my dad’s birth in a boxcar back in 1930, in the logging camps of Louisiana.

Her health hasn’t been very good for about two years now. For a very, very long time she seemed healthy for a woman of her years. A few months back she complained about hurting in her right chest and side and scans revealed some unusual places in her right lung. The doctor had his suspicions but with her advanced age any procedures to verify or disprove whatever it was could have been more harmful than the possible illness.

She has taken a turn for the worse over the past month or so. No longer is she able to walk with assistance or be mobile in the wheelchair. She is now bedridden and I visited her for a while today. She seemed so tiny and fragile, maybe because I’ve never seen her so helpless. A stroke quite recently had affected her right side and speech; and she has lost so much of her energy. It amazes me that just about three weeks ago she was up and talking and still laughing and kidding with me and today was so very different.

I have lost so many close loved ones over the years, it hurts to feel my grandmother slipping away. To have lived and experienced all that has been in her lifetime….incredible. And I will continue to visit with her, and talk to her for as long as she is in that bed. I will still treat her with the admiration and dignity a lady of her years deserves. I can sit at her bedside and tell her about my day and keep her company.

To all of you who still have your grandparents or your parents, give them a huge hug. You never know what can happen in just a few weeks time and always, even if that parent or uncle or aunt or grandparent is nearing the century mark, it comes as a surprise when you realize you could soon be losing a dear family member. And what is even more surprising is the frustration that comes with the reality that you cannot do anything for them physically…but you can pray.

Offering prayers for my Mamaw,

KW