Yesterday felt like everything just fell into place—it was such a great feeling!
Tod and I picked up grandma's chair on Friday night and got it professionally cleaned. It looks fantastic now, and she fits into it perfectly! I didn't realize how huge the other chair looked next to hers—totally a Goldilocks moment. Now, everything feels just right : )
I remember playing Rumikub for hours with grandma and even great grandma when I was a kid, so I ordered the game. At first, she didn't remember it at all... until I started explaining the rules to Tod, and suddenly she jumped in correcting me - hahah. Hopefully, we'll be playing it soon. Today, we're planning to swing by her apartment so she can check out what she might need right away but she is still fast asleep! I go back and forth on her sleeping so late but she gets mad if we don't wake her - Ugh! I made her coffee about an hour ago - oops!
Susan, her helper is from Kenya and former California restaurateur, cooked up an amazing dish yesterday. I wish I could describe the incredible smell when walking in the house—it was just awesome! Grandma said she liked it, but with her picky taste buds, who knows? Tod and I definitely loved it. Susan has been so encouraging with grandma, and they have such nice conversations. Grandma even started sharing stories about her days working at JCPenney—or was it Sears or did she work at both. Grandma and I talked about her working at Buche's a few days ago.
Last week, Teresa stayed over with grandma on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sounds like they had quite a busy time! The phone was hooked up and a new bed was delivered, which turned out to be a bust and was sent back, but we found a winner the next day (3rd time is a charm). Teresa also BBQ'd what sounded like a delicious lunch, and she even gave grandma a fresh coat of nail polish! Theo seems to have had a great time and is like grandma's shadow—check out the video Teresa took.
Teresa's coming over again today for another sleepover with grandma. By the way, anyone's welcome to do the same—just let me know, and we'll make sure there are clean sheets! If you'd rather just hang out with grandma, that's great too—I'll sneak out so you can have some one-on-one time with her. Darlene also popped by to visit grandma last week, and it meant a lot to her.
Our new routine seems to be dinner followed by game shows in the evening. We've been enjoying rewatching old episodes of Deal or No Deal, all three of us shouting advice at the TV and cracking up at the contestants' reactions—haha! She and Susan ended up on the Hallmark Channel watching Christmas in July movies one day and she was laughing at one of the movies. But after Susan left she said, "What happened to Thanksgiving"
Looking ahead, the rest of the week is shaping up like this:
Sunday, July 21: We're expecting a cool puzzle table and a new puzzle today. Hannah's bringing a few puzzles too. Teresa's spending the night with Grandma tonight.
Monday: Jeanie, grandma's nurse, is swinging by.
Tuesday: Grandma has a hair appointment.
Wednesday: Exciting news! I found some Hand and Foot players. One lady, who's 90 and prefers to play without chatting, sounds like a perfect match for grandma—haha! Her daughter and a couple of other ladies are joining us. We had a volunteer that was suppose to help set this sort of thing up, but I'm not the most patient and she seemed slow motion, so I posted on our community Facebook page and got a great response!
Thursday: Jeanie's visiting again.
Friday: Day of rest—haha!
Saturday: No plans yet, but something's bound to come up. Grandma loves being outside, but it's just so dang hot right now. But maybe we can do something outside in the evening.
She keeps joking about wanting to get in the pool, and when I suggested asking some cute firefighters for help, she said, "Oh, they'll say, 'Oh, you moved!'"—hahahahahah. Her witty humor is rearing it's funny face! The letter I wrote to her seems to have helped, and she's even repeating things like, "Mark said you're packing everything up for me," which really resonates with her and makes a big difference!
In the two weeks before moving her here, I must have visited her place 8-10 times - maybe more if I look back at my texts with Tod or my kids. Moving her here has lifted a huge weight that I didn't even realize I was carrying. Tod joins us for dinner every night and stays for a couple of hours. Stephen has had dinner with us, and Hannah's been over several times. Now, I'm no longer rushing out of dinner with my kids and Tod to check on grandma when she calls saying she doesn't feel right or something's wrong. I no longer lie awake at night wondering if I should have stayed with her longer or sneak over at 6 a.m. the next morning to make sure she's okay. I'm already with her, and while the first week was emotional, I now feel an incredible sense of relief and reduced stress. So, thanks to everyone who supported us through this quick decision.
I hope to update her letter today and get it printed. As soon as I do, I will add it here so you all have the same info!
xo
Candice
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