Much rejoicing abounds. They sent Grandma home at 6:00 tonight. I just talked to her on the phone and she sounds great. She said that it’s so much more comfortable being there than in the hospital.
Mom said that Grandma walked into the house under her own power with just a little bit of steadying help. This includes going up three steps, so that’s a great thing. I’m spending the night there tomorrow and Wednesday nights.
In a moment of personal triumph, I’ve just managed to get my 14 year old nephew to give me a story critique ala OSC’s wise reader model.
He went through my revision of “American Changeling” and let me know what he found dull, unbelievable, or didn’t get. And which bits he thought were cool.
Score!
Granted, it was not a particularly detailed response, but it was his first critique and I’m pleased as Punch that he did it. Even better, he liked the ending and told me why. I am a very happy aunt right now.
I left the hospital around 9:00 this morning, when my cousin Marsha came to sit with Grandma.
Grandma says that she slept better last night than she did Saturday night and seemed stronger. She’s still unsteady on her feet and feels more confident getting up and down with someone by her side, but seems to be doing it mostly on her own. She had a biscuit with grape jelly, some bacon and some eggs this morning.
I’m going to take a nap and then dive back into the last read-through of my manuscript.
You know why people in the hospital are exhausted? Because someone comes by every two hours to take blood, or blood pressure or just check in. I’m not complaining. I’m delighted that they take such good care of Grandma, but I don’t see how anyone could sleep through the night even if nothing else were wrong.
The technician has just come in to do a routine blood pressure check on Grandma and take her temperature. We were both awake when she came in.
Grandma and I have been chatting for the last hour or so. It turns out that we have something unexpected in common. Our family never tells us anything. Somehow it makes me feel better that they forget to let her know things as often as they forget to tell me. (Mom, are you reading this?)
Anyway, since Mom K. asked what Grandma’s favorite bible verse was, I asked her. John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled…”
She also mentioned Proverb 3:5-6 and told me a story I’d never heard. I’ll see if I can remember it.
Shortly after my Aunt Gen and Uncle Marvin got married, Aunt Gen had a thyroid problem and they had to operate. They were worried that they would have to take her voice box. Grandma remembers the doctor saying that he prayed during the whole operation that he wouldn’t have to do that. As Grandma was coming home, one of her neighbors told her to read Proverbs 3: 5-6 and that ever since then she’s taken it as her own verse.
She also starts every morning with “This is the day that the Lord hath made,” from Psalms. To paraphrase, she says that it reminds her that we need all the seasons.
I’m supposed to tell Mom that we had church this morning.
It looks like Grandma has dropped off to sleep again, so I’m going to try for a little more shut eye myself.
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