The past 5 days have been a roller coaster of emotions, to say the least. Let's start with Sunday, and bear with me, this is going to be a lengthy post...
Sunday. I slept until about 8 a.m. before making myself get up. After a cup of coffee, I launched into action by packing Bella's things, packing my things (not very well I might add), and making a pb&j for B-bo with a lot of snacks as well so we wouldn't have to stop for lunch, just gas. We were loaded and ready to go by 10:30, and off we headed on our 6 hour road trip to Cordele, GA. Why, well, my Grandmother, my Dad's Mom, had a heart attack on Thursday. My Dad was an only child, so guess who happens to be left to take care of my Grandmother... My poor Mom. Anyway, per my Grandmother's wishes, no feeding tube/IV's, she has been going down hill since my Dad died, and she is ready to die. I will finish talking about Sunday, and then I will get to the conversation my Mom had with her on Saturday evening. Bella watched The Fox & the Hound and Tangled, before reading/drawing for an hour and then napping the last 2 hours of the trip. We got to the hotel around 4:30 and my Mom met us there shortly after we arrived. We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel, and then visited my Grandmother in the hospital. Children under 12 were not allowed to visit patients in the hospital, so I went to see my Grandmother alone while my Mom waited with Bella. I was terrified to enter her room, and once I did, I saw a shell of what used to be my Grandmother. She was out cold, due to pain meds, so I just told her I loved her and left the room. I waited with Bella while my Mom went to check on her, and then we went back to the hotel. After I gave Bella a bath and put her to bed, my Mom busted out a bottle of wine from the mini fridge :) Hell Yes! We chit chatted and watched The Amazing Race, before calling it a night. No sleep was had by me though, because BB snores. She had woken Bella up by 11, and she and I laid awake until about 3 a.m. counting the stars from her star turtle hoping to drift asleep. The remainder of the time there, BB slept on the sofa in the front room. We had a suite, so to speak, with 2 rooms. This way, Bella and I each had our own bed, and BB had a room to herself. She doesn't sleep well and often wakes up and reads/watches TV until she can fall back asleep. This way everyone won.
Now for a quick side note before we move on to Monday. When my Mom visited my Grandmother Saturday night, they actually had a conversation. My Grandmother said she had been talking to her Mom/brother T.W./Hugh Sr./Hugh Jr. (my Dad). My Mom told her that if she was ready to go that she should, and not to worry about us that we were ok, and that everything was taken care of and ready. My Grandmother then opened her eyes, looked at my Mom, and asked if she had to come back. My Mom smiled and said, "No, you don't." My Grandmother said, "Good, because I don't want to." And those were the last clear words she has spoken.
Monday. Every morning, while we were there, Bella and BB would head down for breakfast in the hotel and let me sleep in. Gotta say, that was my favorite part of the day. Anyway, Monday was spent taking care of banking accounts/life insurance policies/funeral arrangements/flowers. Fun stuff so to speak. Bella was terrific throughout all of this, and having the ipod touch helped tremendously. Once all the errands were done, we went back to the hotel and went swimming. The pool was quite cold, but once you got used to it, it wasn't so bad. Plus they had a hot tub, so you could warm up every now and then. B-bo swam for a good 2 hours, and she needed to in order to burn off some energy! We then went and checked on my Grandmother, located the nursing home she was being moved to on Tuesday, had dinner at Zaxby's, and then went to see the movie Hop. It wasn't bad, not outstanding or anything, but definitely entertaining. After I put Bella to bed, my Mom and I watched a Top Model Marathon. The season where Whitney the "full figured" model wins.
Tuesday. Post breakfast, we headed over to my Grandmother's apartment to clean it out. Basically we bagged up all her clothes and knick knacks to take to a Habitat for Humanity Restore for donation. My Mom already had some people interested in the furniture and she went ahead and gave it all to them. It was a pretty easy process, and a son-in-law of a friend had a truck so he came out to The Manor, loaded up all the stuff for donation and took it there for us so we only had to make one trip. Awesome. We made a stop by Wal-Mart for some groceries so we could have a "picnic" in the hotel room, instead of more disgusting fast food. Fresh fruit and sandwiches sounded awesome! Of course BB got Bella some books, and a few more toys, but what are Grandmothers for?! After lunch, both BB and Bella napped, and I watched a marathon of Tabitha's Salon Make Overs... Don't ask... We had dinner at a little local Italian restaurant, and then we went by the nursing home to check on Grandmother. Bella could visit her here, but in hind sight, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. The nursing home was absolutely depressing and Bella being the observant child that she is was soaking it all in and not afraid to voice her observations either. For example... That lady looks pregnant... Wow lots of people have chairs with wheels... It smells kind of terrible in here.... Why does that guy have a squeaky toy... What's wrong with her face.... I think that's enough... Once Bella was bathed and in bed, my Mom made me watch Hawaii Five-O the new series, which she mostly slept through, while I downed half a bottle of wine. Seeing my Grandmother in the nursing home struck a nerve. She didn't even look human. She is basically starving herself, and wow does that reek havoc on your body. My Mom and I agreed that she needed a closed casket ceremony with her photo on top. No one needs to see her this way, and I don't want it to turn into a gawk fest.
Wednesday. After my Mom went and checked on my Grandmother in the morning, we decided we all needed a break, and we went to the Flint River Aquarium in Albany, GA. It was about 45 minutes away, and totally worth it. I was super impressed. Bella got to touch a live baby gator. They had an albino alligator named Moonshine that was so cool to see. The assortment of fish they had was unbelievable, and they had a bird sanctuary as well as many interactive exhibits including a tunnel system that when you crawled through it had little aquariums throughout for close up view. We also watched an IMAX movie called River Monsters all about what lived in the oceans and seas during prehistoric times. We hit up a Ruby Tuesday for lunch, where a random stranger ended up paying for our lunch. When my Mom asked the waitress for our ticket, she told us that the gentleman sitting near us had paid for our meals because we looked like nice people and he liked to do nice things every now and then. How cool was that?! I told my Mom that he was obviously flirting with her because I had a kid in tow, and I could tell that made her day :) We stopped by the mall so I could grab some hose and while we were there my Mom got me some hot high heel red patent leather shoes for the 2 dresses I have made recently <3 Once back at the hotel, we went for an hour swim, and then got cleaned up for dinner at the Cracker Barrel with my Dad's cousin Marvin and his lady friend Carol. Marvin is an attorney, and he is handling all the will stuff. Dining options are very limited. Post dinner, Bella and I waited in the car while my Mom went in to check on my Grandmother. I didn't feel it was necessary to expose Bella to that again, and my Mom agreed. After watching a little Master Chef, my Mom and I called it a night.
Thursday. When I woke up, Bella crawled in my lap, told me she was homesick and that she really wanted to visit Pap Pap and Jamma. My Mom looked at me and said, "I think today is a good day for all of us to go home. Because even if Grandmother passes today, we can't do anything until next week due to the fact that it's Easter weekend." So we all packed up, and Bella and I were on the road by 9:07 a.m. My Mom caught a flight out of Atlanta around 7 p.m. and we were home at 3! After unloading the car, having a snack, and me, I took a shower, well Bella and I chilled out on the sofa and watched Despicable Me. Great.Movie. When Vince got home, we met his parents at Pine Lake for dinner. Bella was asleep by 9, Vince and I were out by 10:20.
Good Friday. Bella is currently on a play date with her grandparents having lunch, dying Easter eggs, and watching Despicable Me. Vince is off work today so we are enjoying each other <3
My Grandmother is still breathing, but it truly is just a matter of time. So the funeral will be next week, and when that happens my brother and I will fly to Atlanta to meet up and then rent a car to drive down to Cordele.
It has been a long 5 days, but now I am home and it's going to be a great weekend.
xoxox
Dang. We need to chat. xoxox
ReplyDelete