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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Still Hanging in There ...

I was snooping around my brother Donald's flickr site and filched this picture of my grandmother, Thelma (he and I aren't on speaking terms right now). He took it right after Christmas, I think. I can't believe she's still hanging in there after everything she's been through. At first when we spoke on Christmas, she was disoriented, but gradually she snapped out of it. Then, she told me she was visited by my aunt, my mother, and my brother over the Christmas holiday. She said she was sad because she can't do anything any longer. Still trying to take care of everyone after all these years in a convalescence home ...

She's so cute ... and I miss her so much!

Thelma Close Up

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are so fortunate to have your grandmother in your life.

i lost both my parents when i was 30, my MIL is in hospice now, the only grandparent my children have ever known. hard to see the generations pass and know that i'm on my way to being the senior generation. i'm not ready for that yet, but i guess we're never ready.

Donna L. Faber said...

Hey there ... yes, the whole senior thing is mind boggling to me, too. I've watched my grandmother as the strong glue that keeps my erstwhile and unresponsible family members together ... and I've watched her transform into a strange, little lady creature type thing, devoid of social graces, inwardly focussed on the most visceral of levels ... yet still fretting because she can't throw big parties on the holidays any longer. It's curious to me.

Then, on the other hand, I worry about my mother. Both of my parents alienated their children, and I worry about how alone they will be in their oldest years. Family is the only thing that keeps my granny from launching herself into orbit ... permanently. I wonder what will happen to my parents who have so successfully cut the ropes that moor them.

D~

Anonymous said...

Each person makes his or her own choices. Deciding how to interact with relatives can be a touchy subject. At the same time, it is an invitation to reflect on our own selflessness and selfishness. We need not follow a negative or hurtful example. Its possible to shift gears, learn to express love differently.

Donna L. Faber said...

This is a thoughtful topic ... it is still to painful to interract with my parents. Perhaps some day I will gain enough objectivity to be involved without being hurt.

That time isn't now.

D~

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