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Nov. 11th, 2002 06:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckThe visit to my grandmother went well. She's still very strongly of the school who believes that feeding people is a demonstration of love. She kept trying to press more food on us during our entire visit. Dinner on Tuesday was lemon chicken. She'd never made it before and was, I think, more than a little disappointed in the results. The canned "Chinese vegetables" that she bought were almost entirely bean sprouts, and she kept saying how she'd have been better off doing a simple stir fry.
I suspect that her hearing's going a bit because there were several occasions when Grandma misheard me, thinking I'd said something that sounded similar. This only really proved a problem when I said "Not yet, please" about dessert and she heard "Yes, please." She served me a largish slice of cake with whipped cream and cherries. I despise whipped cream under almost all circumstances, but I didn't see how I could protest at that point. She was so pleased with what she'd put together.
Aunt Cathy and her husband dropped by Tuesday afternoon. Uncle Ken was unusually talkative (which means he was only kind of antisocial) while Aunt Cathy talked a lot. I don't know how noticeable Aunt Cathy's mental difficulties were to LunarGeography, who naturally has no real idea what she was like before, but I noticed as I always do and was saddened. Several years ago, she had a severe bout of spinal meningitis exacerbated by decades of smoking and alcoholic malnutrition. Presently, her long term memory's fairly spotty, and she has difficulty retaining focus on whatever's she's doing or saying. She also no longer cares particularly about her appearance. Grandma thinks Aunt Cathy's improved over the years.
We didn't see Uncle Jeff and Aunt Gail because Aunt Gail and Autumn, their granddaughter who lives with them, had both come down with a very bad cold. Uncle Jeff was just starting to get the edges of it, and neither LunarGeography nor I wanted to risk catching it. Nor, for that matter, did my aunt and uncle want to risk giving it to us (I doubt Autumn would care. She's not quite three and a half). Grandma did tell me something that I hadn't realized, though. Apparently Uncle Jeff and Aunt Gail have both managed to quit smoking after years of trying. I never expected that to happen given how many times they've tried in the past. I wonder if having Autumn living with them made a difference. I think it's quite possible. Grandchildren seem to have a different effect than children do.
I suspect that her hearing's going a bit because there were several occasions when Grandma misheard me, thinking I'd said something that sounded similar. This only really proved a problem when I said "Not yet, please" about dessert and she heard "Yes, please." She served me a largish slice of cake with whipped cream and cherries. I despise whipped cream under almost all circumstances, but I didn't see how I could protest at that point. She was so pleased with what she'd put together.
Aunt Cathy and her husband dropped by Tuesday afternoon. Uncle Ken was unusually talkative (which means he was only kind of antisocial) while Aunt Cathy talked a lot. I don't know how noticeable Aunt Cathy's mental difficulties were to LunarGeography, who naturally has no real idea what she was like before, but I noticed as I always do and was saddened. Several years ago, she had a severe bout of spinal meningitis exacerbated by decades of smoking and alcoholic malnutrition. Presently, her long term memory's fairly spotty, and she has difficulty retaining focus on whatever's she's doing or saying. She also no longer cares particularly about her appearance. Grandma thinks Aunt Cathy's improved over the years.
We didn't see Uncle Jeff and Aunt Gail because Aunt Gail and Autumn, their granddaughter who lives with them, had both come down with a very bad cold. Uncle Jeff was just starting to get the edges of it, and neither LunarGeography nor I wanted to risk catching it. Nor, for that matter, did my aunt and uncle want to risk giving it to us (I doubt Autumn would care. She's not quite three and a half). Grandma did tell me something that I hadn't realized, though. Apparently Uncle Jeff and Aunt Gail have both managed to quit smoking after years of trying. I never expected that to happen given how many times they've tried in the past. I wonder if having Autumn living with them made a difference. I think it's quite possible. Grandchildren seem to have a different effect than children do.
