Yesterday was one of my days off with our son and having told my grandparents that I would visit them with their great grandson, I decided to make yesterday the day. I had to be in the area anyway for my weekly chiropractor's appointment so I figured it would be perfect since all of my grandparents live fairly close. At my appointment, my son started getting a little fussy and with him being called the cutest guy ever, my chiropractor just had to hold him for a few minutes. Shortly after he took our son, he asked me if he had a wet diaper or if he was just sweaty. I looked down at his clothes and realized that I had forgotten to put his rubber monkey pants on over his cloth diaper. Brilliant. On top of that, I hadn't packed an extra set of clothes or extra monkey pants for that matter. I couldn't go traipsing around visiting grandparents with him in soaking wet clothing. I had to make a trip home and get new clothes and the all important monkey pants. That morning I had decided I would make the trip and see my grandparents on my dad's side (Babci and Dziadziu) at their assisted living center. My plans got altered however by my inadvertent mistake of forgetting the monkey pants. By the time I was headed back down to visit them, it was around the time they went down to lunch and I figured that instead of rushing in and interrupting their schedule, I would go visit my other grandmother on my mother's side, Baba, who lives at my parents house. For whatever reason, it worked out beneficially for all parties involved.
When I got to my parents house and retrieved our son from the back seat of my Jeep, it turns out my grandmother was just finishing breakfast at 11:15. As soon as she saw that I was there with her great grandson, she was overcome with joy. To say she was excited would be an understatement. She started tearing up, ushered us into the house, and showered the little man with kisses. She then proceeded to tell me how she gets up every morning and kisses a picture of him as soon as she gets out of bed. As it turns out, she was also thinking about him the day before and wondering when she would get to see him again. Think and you shall receive (I know, not the way the saying goes, but hey, I'm writing this so I can twist things a little). First off when we got there, I had to get our son out of his wet clothes and diaper and completely change him over. He was happy and active and by the time I was done, Baba was done with her breakfast and we all went into the living room where I proceeded to give our son his bottle for his third meal of the day. As we talked while he ate, the conversation obviously revolving around him and our lives, she brought up the topic of her age and how she was amazed that she would be 92 years old in the fall. She never thought she would make it that long and proceeded to tell me that she had another woman predict that she would make it to 98. I had heard her say before that she was ready to die, that she didn't know why she was alive anymore, and that she just wanted God to take her. Knowing that, I suggested that I hoped she would make it a least a few more years. For the first time in a long time, I heard her say that she hoped she would make it longer than a few years. There was no complaint about any of her ailments (which overall she doesn't have that many), and it was all about seeing her great grandson grow into this beautiful boy and man.
It is amazing to me how a new life, our son, can give new life to someone in their nineties. Does she still complain from time to time about her condition? Yes, but to me it is no where near as bad as it was a year ago where she was waiting to die. I saw new life in her yesterday as we watched the little man on the floor, playing with his rings, squirming around, and vomiting every so often as he had just eaten. We ended up staying there for almost 2 hours and we only left because I could see he was getting tired and wouldn't sleep. Baba was overly grateful that we had stopped by and couldn't stop thanking me for bringing him over so she could see him. A simple visit was all it took to lift her spirits and give her that great grandson fix she needed and just happened to be thinking about the day before. (By the time I backed out of the driveway, little man had fallen asleep). For the most part my grandmother is doing well. Every so often however, I have heard that her memory is starting to fail her. Occasionally she will refer to my mother from the day before as "the other woman". The only other woman in the house besides Baba is my mother. She occasionally doesn't recognize people in pictures either. It seems that 99% of the time she is doing really well though. Maybe all she needs is a little more human interaction and little more time with her great grandson to keep her mind sharp and her memory fresh. She reads about 6 books a month so she still has her mental faculties, I just hope she keeps them long enough, and I think she does as well, to see and remember her great grandson as he grows and gets older. It won't be forever, but as she said, she hopes it is more than a few more years.
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