Here comes Grandma : July 7, 2011

It is not often, that someone my age, 52, would be able to still spend time with her grandmother in a normal conversation and actually have lunch and go shopping, but that is what I am still blessed to do.

My grandmother is around 95 years old. That is the age she is giving us anyways.  She lives 1 1/2 hours away from us and though we do not get to see each other as often as I would like, I call her everyday to make sure she "made it thru the night and is still alive".  That is why she wanted me to call her every day.
Today she has a doctor appointment so I will get the priveledge to take her shopping for clothes at her favorite store, Hamricks , and then off to eat lunch which is one of her favorite pastimes. 
She is the mother of my dad who passed away in November and ever since my dad passed away, she has had a sadness about her.  No, she still laughs and is cheerful but you can tell it sometimes in her eyes that she is off in some far away land thinking of my dad and she makes the statement quite often to me that she really, really misses him.

She is still quite an attractive woman and stands very tall.  She has stylish short, grey hair but not very many wrinkles, in my opinion.  She walks slower these days and is careful where she steps because she has fallen 2 times in the last several months just by walking around.
 Just by looking at her, you would never know she is almost 100 years old.  She continues to live by herself. She cleans, washes her own clothes and cooks her own meals. She prides herself on eating a very healthy diet full of veggies.
My 1st encounter with Grandma was when I was around 4 years old. We lived in Arkansas and I have no memory of ever meeting her up to that age. One of the 1st movies that I remember watching completely on a black and white TV was "The Wizard of Oz."  I loved watching that movie, even though I was terrified of the wicked witch of the west.
Now you have to picture a young girl, overwhelmed with a movie about a mean witch. This memory is constantly going thru my head.  My parents decide to take a trip back to their old stomping grounds for a week or so.  I remember turning into my grandparents driveway. The house was green and off a main road.  I was excited about meeting my grandparents and spending time at their home.
I had just walked into the house when I was welcomed by my very tall and handsome grandfather for the 1st time.  He seemed normal enough. 
We had walked into a tv room in which the couch faced the narrow staircase that went to the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom.
As I sat on the couch, I heard someone coming down the stairs.  I look up the staircase to see a woman who , not even kidding, looked exactly like the wicked witch of the west.!!!! I began screaming and as I ran thru the house to get away from the very scary evil woman who I believed had been watered down in her castle, no one could catch me long enough to find out why I was sooo terrified.
Finally, tired and out of breathe, I sat down to figure out how in the world this mean witch was able to end up at my grandparents house. As my heart raced a mile a minute, here comes my parents walking with this scary woman. Had this mean woman captured my mom and dad?  Was her plan to release them if I would quietly return with her to her old, smelly castle? Terrified, I stood as still as I possibly could.  At that point, my mom and dad bent down to tell me that this woman was none other than my grandmother.NO way. That cannot be true.  My grandmother is the wicked witch of the west. I couldn"t understand because I saw her waterfied on tv.
As they tried to help me understand that this woman who looked so much like the wicked witch was really my grandmother and not some fictional character on  tv,  I still had my doubts for a long time and slept with 1 eye open at night just in case I was right.

That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between a grandmother and granddaughter.  I have to say that I was the apple in her eye and she  just adored me. I was the 1st granddaughter and they always get spoiled rotten.
So today, I get to spend time with a woman who grandmothered me thru out my life and give her back just a little of the love and understanding she gave me thru out my life.

Today was a good day. I know dad looks down from heaven and is really glad that I take care of grandma as best I can.  She still is quick and I have to really keep an eye on her, but its worth it because when I was little, she had to keep a close eye on me. And bottom line here is that she is going to be a great great grandmother. Something she is looking so forward to.