Thinking, Remembering, and Praying

My mind has been heavy with thoughts of my mom and her folks over the last few days. My grandparents are both dealing with significant life changes at this time and my mother, being 8 hours away from them, is struggling with wanting to be with them and wanting to be home. I can imagine her dilemma but I cannot yet relate.

My grandmother fell and broke her hip about 3 weeks ago. She had already been failing in health, suffering from dimensia and advanced arthritis. And because she broke her hip, or shall I say shattered it, she received a total hip replacement. After her time in the hospital, she moved into a rehab facility for therapy and care. In the meantime, my grandfather is struggling with finding his new meaning in life, since his entire life was consumed with caring for my grandmother. Now, she was being cared for and he was left at home alone to worry about her.

But, as my grandmother was recovering, she developed an infection in her wound that tested positive for MRSA, a nasty bacterial infection that can be very dangerous if not treated properly. She was admitted back into the hospital earlier this week because she kept removing her IV port. My grandpa and my mom's brother asked my mom to come down to FL to be with them since both my grandpa and grandma were struggling with...well...life. Mom is a strong one. Well, I guess I should say she gives the appearance that she's the strong one, though I know she's struggling along with them. I can't imagine. Anyway, mom arrived in Florida yesterday and she luckily beat Fay to Ocala, which Fay is pounding at the moment.

So, I get a phone call from my dad today to let me know that my grandma has been pretty depressed because she's in the hospital being treated with this horrible infection, which was hard for my mom to see because grandma actually had a good day yesterday. In addition to the stress of my grandmother's poor health, my mother found out this morning that my grandmother's dear sister, Margaret, passed away last Sunday. As of this afternoon, my grandmother still doesn't know. I know she will be greatly, greatly upset.

I've spent many of the last 24 hours thinking about my grandma, how much fun she was, and how I miss her. I haven't seen her since last July and hope and pray I get to see her again. I've also thought about my Aunt Margaret and what an amazing woman she was. She battled with polio since her mid-twenties and has been confined to a wheelchair about 3/4 of her life. She lost her son and his entire family (David and Bibiana), including her only grandchild, in a helicopter crash nearly 20 years ago. Yet, she saw the beauty of life in everything. Always postive. Always curious on how her neices and nephews and great-neices and great-nephews and great-great-neices and great-great-nephews were doing. Always willing to give a hug. I will miss her.

My sister is heading down to FL today to be with our family. I'm praying for her as she battles the affects of Fay. I wish I could be there, too, and I'm praying that God will somehow open up a door to allow me to see my grandma and grandpa soon. Oh, how I want to give them both a hug.

I'm blessed to have such a close-knit family. We feel each other's pain and wish to bear each other's burdens. We are all helping in anyway we can - some physically, some emotionally, all prayerfully.

From the last time I saw Grandma back in July '07

From the last time I saw Aunt Margaret during the same trip down to FL in July '07 (and that's my mom in the pic with Mal):