Off to go meet Great Grandma...
Grandma had been in the hospital or long care facility for about 2 months. She really just wanted to be home. With the help of Hospice, they made that possible. By the time we got Twinsburg, she was home and laying in her own bed.
It was so important to me to have Michael meet his Great-Grandma. I know he wont remember it but I have the pictures to show him one day! When we walked into Grandma’s room she had the biggest smile on her face! I missed her smile! It had been almost a year since I saw her. She was hooked up to her trachea and was able to talk. All she could say was how gorgeous Michael was and how much she loved and missed me. Though she didn’t need to say a thing, she said it all with her eyes and smile. You can see a video of Michael meeting her here.
The next morning we went back to visit with Grandma. Unfortunately she was not doing as well as she was yesterday. She was not talking but she was smiling. Just having Michael in the room with her brightened her mood. I laid him on her and she cuddled with him for quite some time. Dad, Ash and Britt decided last minute to fly into Cleveland that night (Thursday May 26th). See what we all thought was good news that Grandma was going home because she was better, she was actually going home to be comfortable. It was very hard to grasp this concept but I tried to keep that from my mind and enjoy the time I had with her. I spent most of the day holding her hand or laying with her on the bed. Even though she couldn’t talk and she slept most of the time I knew that she was happy just having me there.
I would tell her it felt like old times when I would stay with her. We would lie in bed watching silly game shows (Love Connection is the one that I remember most) till 2 am! We were night owls no doubt!
There was a moment that afternoon when her respirations decreased to like 6 to 8 a minute. I thought that she wasn’t going to make it to see Dad, Ash and Britt. I remember asking her to watch over Michael. She looked at me and smiled. I said, “Promise?” and she just nodded her head.
Dad, Ash and Britt did get to Twinsburg that evening and made it to Grandmas. Dad, Grandma, Michael and I got a photo, 4 generations! It was so great. We even got a smile out of Grandma!
We spent the rest of that evening visiting. Grandma was in and out of consciousness but she knew we were there. There was one point where she was giving out lots of kisses. And of course we all (even Michael) took advantage of that!
Friday we spent the day visiting. The Wesley’s came up from Columbus to see us. It was a nice distraction to have some friends come for a quick visit. We went to Bob Evens for dinner. Jacob was playing the game… throw my toys off the table and watch Mommy and Daddy pick them up. It was too funny! They got a room at the same hotel so we all hung out back there after dinner. Michael and Jacob were subjects of my photography of course. Michael turned one month as well so I took a few photos of him as well. Ashley put a picture of Joe up on her ipad so he could be in the picture with us! Quite clever I think!
Our plan was to fly home Saturday. With Grandma not doing well we decided to stay one more day and leave Sunday May 29th. It was a hard day with Grandma. She was not responsive much at all. The only time she would wake up was when the nurse aid would move her to change her shirt and what not. We tried to make light of the situation. With Michael there he managed to make everyone smile. I am sure just having everyone in the room made Grandma at peace.
Sunday was the day we were planning to leave. We went by Grandmas for a short while. We all had a flight to catch and unfortunately couldn’t stay long. Britt sang a few songs to her and she smiled a little. Everyone said their goodbye and got kisses from Grandma as they left. I lingered, as I really did not want to leave her. I went to the restroom to collect myself. My heart was breaking. I always hated leaving Grandma and I knew this was going to be the last time I see her. I snuck back into her room one more time for one last kiss… I just couldn’t pull away. Even looking back now I wish I had gone back in there one more time…
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