Hello, good morning, and welcome to The ThINKin' Spot! I'm happy to have ya here!! As many of you know, I've been staying with my grandparents for the past week, and plans are for me to continue that as long as they need me, although, I am enjoying a quiet weekend at home in my pajamas this weekend. My grandma (Granny) has some serious health issues, and with her failing health, she needs 24 hour/day care. About 15 years ago, she suffered a major heart attack, and only about 40-50% of her heart actively functions. In addition, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease about 2 years ago, and with Macular Degeneration, she is very nearly blind. She's 86 (soon to be 87) years old, and for the past 45 years, she has been MY Granny. I grew up with her literally a few steps away, and I have to admit that she spent many of her waking hours completely spoiling me. Truly, she spoils everyone who's had the priviledge to spend any time with her at all. She is one of the most loving, giving, patient and kind people I've known in my life, and I owe so much of who I am to her. It is both a pleasure and joy to take care of her. Yes, it is hard work, it gets incredibly frustrating for BOTH of us sometimes, and I couldn't do it for just anyone, but for her, it's a pleasure. She has taken care of so many, and it seems only fitting that we now reciprocate by lovingly taking care of her needs, although it's still difficult for her to allow us to do so.
We enjoyed a beautiful day on the farm last Wednesday with warm temperatures and a gorgeous sunny day, and I decided to take her out on the deck to enjoy a part of the glorious Spring weather. We spent a little over an hour out there, and I had to look hard to find a hat to protect her fragile and fair skin from the sun, which felt so good to her. I finally stumbled upon Grandpa's old fishin' hat, which served the purpose, but I had to keep reminding her to not touch the hat, as there were flies (lures) stuck in the hat. I snapped this picture of her just about the time she instructed me "Little lady...you'd better not get a picture of me in this dorky hat". She cracks me up. It's so good to see her smile. Wednesday was a good day. She knew who we were, felt good, and we all enjoyed the day. Sometimes she does forget who I am, or she'll ask me to get a nurse for her. Thursday, she even woke up from a nap, and announced that she'd like for us to get her a monkey. She said, "Yep...that's just what I need. A monkey!" I thought I would fall off the couch laughing, and Grandpa just stared at her with this bewildered look on his face. It was truly priceless!! Lord, I LOVE her!
This is Granny. EVERYONE who knows her calls her Granny.
And..this handsome young man is Grandpa. All 119 pounds of him. He's pretty healthy, and has always been about this size (he has lost a little weight as he's gotten older, but not that much). Oh, why didn't I get his metabolism?!!!!!
This my the grandparents home where I'm staying. They built it in 1971, when I was 7 years old.
This is a picture of the machine shed and barn on the back side of my grandparents house. That's where all the action takes place, and according to my mom, where I learned pretty much every swear word I now know. In retrospect, she's decided that letting me go the the shed with dad and grandpa while they worked on machinery probably wasn't the best parenting decision she ever made. It caused her some pretty embarassing situations, but we'll save those for another day! ;-)
Thanks for stopping by today. While I'm away from home and my craft room, my card posting may be sporadic, but I'm trying to figure out how to make room for more of my things at my grandparents home. I'll be posting a little of this and a little of that, and sharing with you some of the people and places that are very near and dear to my heart. May the good Lord bless and keep you today and always!
Love Ya!
