Accidents Happen!

For the last couple of weeks, Mee Maw has been in really outstanding condition. Physically she has been strong enough to walk down for her meals and to walk her guests out of the building. She has even played a lot of "Bingo" with her fellow residents.

Mentally she has been sharper than she has been in a long time. Lori and Ally (our daughter) went to visit her a couple of times in the last two weeks, and they reported that she was very talkative and interesting. Sure, there were a couple of momentary memory lapses, but that's to be expected after 98 years.

Last week my mother went in to visit and found Mee Maw in bed with the hospice nurse sitting in the wheelchair at the foot of the bed. Mee Maw was talking and talking and talking on and on and on . . . you get the picture. The nurse told Mom that at one point, Mee Maw recited all of John chapter 14 to her. That's a good memory!

Of course, good things must come to an abrupt end sometimes. Last night James, her son, was visiting her. While he was there, she slipped in the bathroom and fell, cracking three ribs and banging her head. She spent time at the hospital while they x-rayed her and diagnosed the problem. The emergency room doctor insisted that she should not be left alone, especially for the next three or four weeks while her ribs heal properly. She will require help to get up and down out of bed or her chair, and she will probably need a bit of assistance walking. There is a service that provides "companions" for just such needs, and the family has contracted for someone to be with her. Maybe her memory will remain sound and she can use the time quoting Scripture to someone who needs it. Perhaps God will send her some people whom she can care for spiritually while they care for her physically.

Today Mee Maw was sitting in her chair accepting the usual Sunday parade of visitors. Her primary complaints were of pain in the upper part of her right leg (NOT the hip, thank goodness!), the back of her head, and in the center of her chest. Dad and James talked the situation over and decided that she probably strained a leg or groin muscle trying to regain her balance before she fell (she landed on her right side). The head pain came from hitting the back of her head on the threshhold of the shower when she fell. And the pain on the right center of her chest is probably from the strain on her rib cage and breastbone as it absorbed the impact of the fall on the hard floor.

Other than the pain from the accident, however, Mee Maw seemed as good as ever. We thank the Lord that the injuries were not more serious, and that a responsible family member was present when it happened.

Please pray for her continued healing from these problems. And do come and see her sometime, if you can.

Improving a Bit

Mee Maw seems to be improving, both physically and mentally. Yesterday my sister Lynette and her husband Donald visited her. As they turned to go down the hall to her room, they ran into her with her walker making her way to the dining area for lunch! She has not been going to meals lately, so it was a welcomed surprise to find her exercising.

My mother went today and found her lying in bed. But the bed was made up very neatly. Mee Maw admitted to doing it herself, which is another good thing.

There are still occasional memory lapses, but we all have those, don't we? And at 98 years of age, she has a lot of memories that she can forget.

My wife Lori visited yesterday as well and answered Mee Maw's question about the children by telling her that they were swimming. "Really? Where?" asked Mee Maw. "At their grandparents' pool," answered Lori. "Why, I didn't know that they had a pool in their yard!" exclaimed Mee Maw.

There has been a pool in my parent's yard since I was a kid over 30 years ago. And Mee Maw lived next door, and I remember her swimming with us a few times. So we guess she just forgot.

One thing she has never forgotten is that she is a grandmother. 48 years ago today she became a grandmother for the 1st time. And I'm to "blame". She always reminds me that I was her first.

I sure wish that she could be around for at least 48 more.

Hello?? Hello??

My wife and my daughter Allison went to visit Mee Maw on Tuesday afternoon, May 30th. They found her in excellent spirits and very conversational.

My mother and my aunt Roni have both been very pleased with Mee Maw's mental health for the last couple of weeks. Since the episode with the morphine, she has seemed to come back into our version of reality, for the most part. She has been eating better, talking sensibly, phoning at odd hours less frequently, and even playing bingo again at the home.

There are still a few minor incidents, but those can be excused for a 98-year-old woman. Lori and Ally spent about 20 minutes searching her room for her fly swatter to try to rid them all of a pest that had invaded their space. Mee Maw's fly swatter was nowhere to be found. They found out later that the reason they could not find a fly swatter in the room is because there had NEVER BEEN a fly swatter in the room. Oh, well.

Lori reported an amusing incident from their visit. As they arrived, Mee Maw was using her walker to get across the room to lie down on her bed. Just then, the phone rang. It was her oldest son, Alfred, calling from North Carolina. Mee Maw tried to tell him who her visitors were. She remembered Lori's name without a problem, but she could not think of her great-granddaughter's name at all. All she could remember is that she had just graduated from college. Alfred "connected the dots" and asked to speak to Ally to congratulate her. After that, he asked to speak to Lori, and they exchanged pleasantries.

When those parts of the call were complete, Al asked to speak to his mother again. Lori held out the phone and said, "Here, Mee Maw, you need to talk on the phone now." Mee Maw replied, "No, they'll call back." She took the cordless phone receiver, buried it under her pillow, and then laid down on the bed. Lori tried to tell her that Al was still on the line, but Mee Maw apparently did not believe her. From under the pillow came a muffled "Hello?? Hello?? Mama? Mama? Hello???"

Lori quickly fished the phone out of its feathery grave and handed it to Mee Maw while stating, "Alfred is still on the line here!" Mee Maw looked at the phone, put it to her ear, and said, "I've got company right now, and I can't talk. Call me back later!"

**CLICK**

She hung up on her son! Our apologies to Alfred. Lori and Ally did not in any way influence the outcome of the call. Lori felt rather badly for Al. We hope he was able to get Mee Maw back on the phone a bit later.