Another Mish-Mash of a Day, Minus Two Babies
I hate mornings. Yet, I was ready for business when the doorbell rang at 7:30 a.m.
I called Amtrak and arranged a refund of our unused "Hurricane Dennis" tickets and a voucher to make up for the hellish Amtrak journey. Then I took four kids with me to the post office where I mailed them registered mail.
Then, on to the park. As I was saying, "Look out for that swing, DaycareKid, or it'll hit you in the . . . lip," it hit him in the lip. Sometimes I hate to be right. We stayed an hour, went to the bank, then to McDonald's and then home.
At naptime, I left my husband in charge and took my youngest son with me to visit my 99-year old grandmother who lives alone in a tidy little house, despite her blindness. My son is fascinated by her old age and by disease and so on the drive there, we discussed death and cancer almost the whole way.
We visited for an hour and a half and then it was time to leave. (More about the visit in days to come.)
Came home to find the little ones awake and having pretzels for a snack. My husband continued his hacking and chopping in the back yard, while I climbed a ladder and did some trimming myself. DaycareKid left early--there were no babies today--it's funny how just my own family can seem like a vacation compared to my usual routine.
The boys rented video games and had to clean their rooms and shower before they could play and oh boy, did they ever! I've never seen them move so fast, other than when I say, "I have a job for you."
I feel a great sense of accomplishment tonight. I did two things that I needed to do--returning the Amtrak tickets and visiting my grandma. She only lives a half hour away, but it's so incredibly difficult to carve out time to sit with her and ask her questions and listen to her stories. I need to do that more often. After all, she is ninety-nine, and as my son likes to speculate, she only has nineteen more years until she becomes the Oldest Person in the World. Time's ticking. Life is short. I could see that when her vacant eyes stared off into the distance and she saw 1926 so clearly.
I called Amtrak and arranged a refund of our unused "Hurricane Dennis" tickets and a voucher to make up for the hellish Amtrak journey. Then I took four kids with me to the post office where I mailed them registered mail.
Then, on to the park. As I was saying, "Look out for that swing, DaycareKid, or it'll hit you in the . . . lip," it hit him in the lip. Sometimes I hate to be right. We stayed an hour, went to the bank, then to McDonald's and then home.
At naptime, I left my husband in charge and took my youngest son with me to visit my 99-year old grandmother who lives alone in a tidy little house, despite her blindness. My son is fascinated by her old age and by disease and so on the drive there, we discussed death and cancer almost the whole way.
We visited for an hour and a half and then it was time to leave. (More about the visit in days to come.)
Came home to find the little ones awake and having pretzels for a snack. My husband continued his hacking and chopping in the back yard, while I climbed a ladder and did some trimming myself. DaycareKid left early--there were no babies today--it's funny how just my own family can seem like a vacation compared to my usual routine.
The boys rented video games and had to clean their rooms and shower before they could play and oh boy, did they ever! I've never seen them move so fast, other than when I say, "I have a job for you."
I feel a great sense of accomplishment tonight. I did two things that I needed to do--returning the Amtrak tickets and visiting my grandma. She only lives a half hour away, but it's so incredibly difficult to carve out time to sit with her and ask her questions and listen to her stories. I need to do that more often. After all, she is ninety-nine, and as my son likes to speculate, she only has nineteen more years until she becomes the Oldest Person in the World. Time's ticking. Life is short. I could see that when her vacant eyes stared off into the distance and she saw 1926 so clearly.
posted by Melodee at Friday, August 12, 2005
3 Comments:
Ah, but aren't we so blessed to have them in our lives? It is so wonderful that your children will have actual memories of her.
I love listening to my grandparents (84 and 88) talk about old times. I really need to record some of them, they are priceless!
I also love to sit and listen to stories of old folks.
Glad you had some family time, Mel. It sounds like it was enjoyable for you.
Isn't it great when you accomplish what you planned. And for one of your accomplishments to be visiting your Gma, that is even better. I never had grandparents, so I envy those who do and just like to say enjoy every moment with them that you can. Yes, time is ticking, enjoy and share it with the ones you love.
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