Grandpa: Part 5

~Tuesday, January 22~

 

This morning we braved the bad weather so my Grandparents from Ohio could take us out to Bob Evans for breakfast. What Mom didn’t know was that it was in honor of the birthday she celebrated in January. Since we no longer live a mere 3 hours away, we won’t get to see our grandparents as often for birthdays. Our unexpected trip to Pennsylvania provided us with an opportunity to still celebrate with them.

 

The lovely twins waiting for breakfast to arrive.

The boys.

The restaurant was very quiet since it was a weekday morning and the weather was so poor. We had invited Cousin E to join us for breakfast, but unfortunately due to the bad weather, he decided to head back home. L We kids were so disappointed that we didn’t get to say goodbye. But hopefully we’ll get to see him again soon!

 

We had a table in the back of the restaurant, so we enjoyed a leisurely brunch and talked quite a bit about the past day’s events.

 

After we had finished eating, my Abuela pulled out my Mom’s birthday presents and explained that we were celebrating!

After Mom had finished opening her gifts, we pulled out the laptop and watched the slideshow of my Grandpa from the funeral. At the church, they had a compatibility issue with some of the music I had selected for the slideshow. Two of the three songs wouldn’t work, so they ended up playing a shortened version of the show. Although I was disappointed that it didn’t work, I was glad that we had the full length version for the family to see.

Later that afternoon we went over to the nursing home to see Grandma. While we were visiting with her in the lounge, Pastor D came over to bring the flowers from the funeral. It was good to see him again and we appreciated his visit.

Visiting with Grandma was a little bit difficult. When Pastor D came, she talked a little bit about the funeral, so we thought she remembered it. Later on we were talking about birdfeeders. It was always Grandpa’s job to keep their feeders at home filled. She saw all the snow outside and told us to make sure that Grandpa didn’t slip when he filled up the feeders. Later on she asked where he was.

 

That question made a few of us choke up. Dad gently explained what happened again. It’s almost like Grandpa dies again every time we have to explain it to her. Imagine having to tell your parent every time you see them that their spouse of 57 years is gone, and will never be coming to visit again. It’s a horrible feeling.

 

Our cousins had brought their 2 Bernese Mountain dogs with them on the trip. They thought Grandma might enjoy meeting one of them. My Uncle asked the folks at the front desk about it, and they said they would look the other way while he brought Oliver in. J We really appreciated them allowing that! For being such a huge dog, Oliver is extremely well behaved and did great. We were a little nervous allowing him up close to Grandma because one of his paws against her delicate skin would tear it pretty badly. But he was very calm and let her pet him.

Dad and Aunt Debbie loving on Grandma.

We left after awhile so that Grandma could take an afternoon nap. We went back to the house and continued to go through their things. It’s one of the tasks that’s happy and sad at the same time. We have discovered lots of treasures and articles related to our family history, but it’s also difficult going through things like personal effects, clothes, etc.

Later that afternoon Grandma and Grandpa’s cleaning lady dropped in. She has been cleaning their house for the past 16 years and has become a close friend of the family. I think she is truly going to miss cleaning for Grandma and Grandpa. We are so grateful for her faithful service to them, and all the extra things she did for Grandpa over the past few months. We talked with her for quite awhile while Aunt Debbie and Rubia labeled some clothes they were going to take over to the nursing home for Grandma.

Meanwhile, some of the other kids played outside in the snow. I had to laugh at Josiah a little bit. He somehow lost his hat and gloves, so he borrowed Grandpa’s balaclava and my pink gloves. J At least he stayed warm!

That evening we had leftovers for dinner and our cousins left to start driving back to Florida. It was sad having an empty house.

 

 

To be continued . . .