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Oct. 11th, 2005 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckWe managed to find a weekend in September to visit my grandmother. We'd hoped to go Labor Day weekend, but Grandma was walking the Mackinaw Bridge, so she wasn't going to be home. We went up there the weekend after Delia weaned. That was actually a good thing since Grandma didn't quite manage all of the dietary restrictions. We'd brought plenty for Delia to eat, and I was able to eat what Grandma provided since I no longer needed to avoid soy or dairy. (I got to have ice cream! Bliss).
All of the relatives in the area dropped by while we were there. Delia spent quite a bit of time playing with my cousin's six year old daughter. Delia was thrilled to have someone to play with, and Autumn enjoyed being the oldest for a change. Delia even managed to get over some of her fear of my aunt and uncle's big dog (It helps that he flopped down when they arrived and hardly moved after that) in order to play near him. I wish we were on visiting terms with somebody in our neighborhood with such a mellow dog that might cure her critter fear fairly quickly.
That night, we put Delia down for the night in our portable crib with her bedtime CD playing on my laptop. After the CD ended (it's a long one, Carl Sandburg reading seven of his Rutabaga Stories), I went in to shut down the computer and discovered that Delia had climbed out of her crib and dismantled the room. She'd pulled out all the other CDs and dumped them in her crib, pulled everything out of her diaper bag (including the dirty diapers) and dumped it all in her crib, too. She was sitting on one of the twin beds, looking very pleased with herself. We ended up pushing the twin beds together and tucking her into one of them, up against the wall. I spent most of the night next to her because the next time I checked on her, she was halfway across the bed. Cuddling up next to her was the only way to be sure she wouldn't wriggle off in her sleep. I got hardly any sleep at all.
We took Delia to the beach once while we were up there. She loved the sand but wasn't all that sure about the water. The waves scared her, I think. We rolled up her pants so she could wade a bit, but she slipped and ended up sitting down. I hadn't packed enough changes of clothing, so we didn't go back.
They had a wonderful play structure near the beach, though, and we spent a lot of time there. There were several slides of varying heights. Delia especially enjoyed the covered slide. She and Scott played a game with that. He'd stick his head in while she was at the top, and she'd squeal. Then she'd slide down. They also had a merry-go-round that we liked rather less. It was more or less bowl shaped with raised sides. The bad part was that there really nothing for her to hold onto, so when it turned, she slid and couldn't stay sitting upright. It scared her.
It was, all in all, a pleasant visit. Grandma loves having great-grandchildren (Delia's her second). We've encouraged Delia to call Grandma 'G-G' which is what Autumn calls her. It's always kind of bittersweet taking her to visit Grandma because we all think about how much Grandpa would have adored her. He's been gone six or seven years now, longer than Autumn's been alive.
I called my father a couple of days before we went to visit Grandma. He informed me that he was getting married again. That happened on Saturday October 8th. I actually am not sure how many times he's been married because it depends on how one counts such things. Do I count the time he had a ceremony to keep the families happy but when he and his bride didn't bother with a marriage license? Do I count the time he skipped the ceremony but bought a house and had a daughter? I tend to count both which makes this his fifth marriage. He counts neither which makes this his third marriage. I hope this one lasts.
We didn't even consider going, not with less than a month's notice, a two year old and at least a six hour plane trip (there's generally at least one transfer), and current prices. And if we had gone, we'd have had to scramble to find a place to stay. His new wife smokes, and that sets off my asthma horrifically. They have dogs and cats (which I'm also allergic to) and more people living in the house than they have rooms.
Last week, I got some bad news about my grandfather (on the other side of the family from the grandmother we visited earlier in the month). He's been living alone in the Florida Keys while his health has slowly deteriorated. I know that my mother has been worried for quite some time because he can hardly see but still drives. Basically, he's had at least one stroke severe enough to make him admit that he needs help. He may well have had others previously that he either didn't acknowledge or hid from everybody. We don't know.
This time, however, he spent a couple of days unable to see or hear at all. When he was able to, he called my mother and asked her to come down right away. At the moment, he's with one of his sons in northern Florida, but he's hoping to come to Michigan now that he's acknowledged that he can't live alone anymore. (Three of his five children, seven of his ten grandchildren and his only great-grandchild are here. So are his various nieces and nephews and their families.) Mom says that he's physically fine but mentally quite confused. He'd been having trouble with his short term memory for a while, but he's now lost track of some older memories.
I talked to my mother yesterday, very briefly, about it. I didn't have time to ask for a lot of details, but I suspect that the plans for moving him up here aren't progressing smoothly. He's got two sons in Michigan who might be able to take him in, but both of them have kids in high school/college, and I have no idea how big either house is. There are certain to be other logistical difficulties. Grandpa has stuff that would need to be stored or disposed of, and I don't know if he could make the trip north alone. He's also been in Florida for nearly two decades. He doesn't have clothing for a Michigan winter. I don't know what's going on.
I find myself wishing that there were something I could do to help. There really isn't, though. I can't travel, and even if I could, I can't drive or lift anything. Money's not a problem here, so contributing financially is out. We can't offer to take Grandpa in. The only spare space we have for a bed is in the basement, and that would be a bad thing for him.
All of the relatives in the area dropped by while we were there. Delia spent quite a bit of time playing with my cousin's six year old daughter. Delia was thrilled to have someone to play with, and Autumn enjoyed being the oldest for a change. Delia even managed to get over some of her fear of my aunt and uncle's big dog (It helps that he flopped down when they arrived and hardly moved after that) in order to play near him. I wish we were on visiting terms with somebody in our neighborhood with such a mellow dog that might cure her critter fear fairly quickly.
That night, we put Delia down for the night in our portable crib with her bedtime CD playing on my laptop. After the CD ended (it's a long one, Carl Sandburg reading seven of his Rutabaga Stories), I went in to shut down the computer and discovered that Delia had climbed out of her crib and dismantled the room. She'd pulled out all the other CDs and dumped them in her crib, pulled everything out of her diaper bag (including the dirty diapers) and dumped it all in her crib, too. She was sitting on one of the twin beds, looking very pleased with herself. We ended up pushing the twin beds together and tucking her into one of them, up against the wall. I spent most of the night next to her because the next time I checked on her, she was halfway across the bed. Cuddling up next to her was the only way to be sure she wouldn't wriggle off in her sleep. I got hardly any sleep at all.
We took Delia to the beach once while we were up there. She loved the sand but wasn't all that sure about the water. The waves scared her, I think. We rolled up her pants so she could wade a bit, but she slipped and ended up sitting down. I hadn't packed enough changes of clothing, so we didn't go back.
They had a wonderful play structure near the beach, though, and we spent a lot of time there. There were several slides of varying heights. Delia especially enjoyed the covered slide. She and Scott played a game with that. He'd stick his head in while she was at the top, and she'd squeal. Then she'd slide down. They also had a merry-go-round that we liked rather less. It was more or less bowl shaped with raised sides. The bad part was that there really nothing for her to hold onto, so when it turned, she slid and couldn't stay sitting upright. It scared her.
It was, all in all, a pleasant visit. Grandma loves having great-grandchildren (Delia's her second). We've encouraged Delia to call Grandma 'G-G' which is what Autumn calls her. It's always kind of bittersweet taking her to visit Grandma because we all think about how much Grandpa would have adored her. He's been gone six or seven years now, longer than Autumn's been alive.
I called my father a couple of days before we went to visit Grandma. He informed me that he was getting married again. That happened on Saturday October 8th. I actually am not sure how many times he's been married because it depends on how one counts such things. Do I count the time he had a ceremony to keep the families happy but when he and his bride didn't bother with a marriage license? Do I count the time he skipped the ceremony but bought a house and had a daughter? I tend to count both which makes this his fifth marriage. He counts neither which makes this his third marriage. I hope this one lasts.
We didn't even consider going, not with less than a month's notice, a two year old and at least a six hour plane trip (there's generally at least one transfer), and current prices. And if we had gone, we'd have had to scramble to find a place to stay. His new wife smokes, and that sets off my asthma horrifically. They have dogs and cats (which I'm also allergic to) and more people living in the house than they have rooms.
Last week, I got some bad news about my grandfather (on the other side of the family from the grandmother we visited earlier in the month). He's been living alone in the Florida Keys while his health has slowly deteriorated. I know that my mother has been worried for quite some time because he can hardly see but still drives. Basically, he's had at least one stroke severe enough to make him admit that he needs help. He may well have had others previously that he either didn't acknowledge or hid from everybody. We don't know.
This time, however, he spent a couple of days unable to see or hear at all. When he was able to, he called my mother and asked her to come down right away. At the moment, he's with one of his sons in northern Florida, but he's hoping to come to Michigan now that he's acknowledged that he can't live alone anymore. (Three of his five children, seven of his ten grandchildren and his only great-grandchild are here. So are his various nieces and nephews and their families.) Mom says that he's physically fine but mentally quite confused. He'd been having trouble with his short term memory for a while, but he's now lost track of some older memories.
I talked to my mother yesterday, very briefly, about it. I didn't have time to ask for a lot of details, but I suspect that the plans for moving him up here aren't progressing smoothly. He's got two sons in Michigan who might be able to take him in, but both of them have kids in high school/college, and I have no idea how big either house is. There are certain to be other logistical difficulties. Grandpa has stuff that would need to be stored or disposed of, and I don't know if he could make the trip north alone. He's also been in Florida for nearly two decades. He doesn't have clothing for a Michigan winter. I don't know what's going on.
I find myself wishing that there were something I could do to help. There really isn't, though. I can't travel, and even if I could, I can't drive or lift anything. Money's not a problem here, so contributing financially is out. We can't offer to take Grandpa in. The only spare space we have for a bed is in the basement, and that would be a bad thing for him.
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Date: 2005-10-12 12:41 pm (UTC)reYourNote: Hope your computer improves. And thank you very much for your congratulations! :-)