It's been so long

Gosh folks, it's been so long since I've updated my blog. My apologies to everyone - it seems like everything happened at once. Since my last entry I've made two trips to FL, had a death in the family, had my property surveyed, dealt with a suicidal dog, been de-termite-ed (like my new word?), had my parents for a holiday visit, installed my new surround sound system, bought a new sofa (well new to me), got a new (to me) dresser and nightstands and am now in the midst of trying to get the guys out here to install my new fence!

Let's start at the top of that list. April started with a bang. I went down to FL the first time for my nephew's 16th birthday. I also went because my father had hernia surgery that day AND because I was very concerned about my grandmother. She had been an in-home hospice patient for several months, but had recently taken a turn for the (much) worse and I wanted to see her. I also wanted to give my aunts a break if I could - taking care of Granny was a full time job and at times like that, I always feel guilty for not living closer. This was the first time since I reached adulthood that she a) didn't know me and b) didn't ask when I was going to get married. I was able to stay with her long enough for my aunt and uncle to be able to go try out her new golf clubs at a nearby course, though I'm not sure how much of a mental break I gave them as she and my other aunt took turns calling me to see how Granny was and if I was ok. LOL Then my aunt came home and immediately found the pill that Granny had spit out when I wasn't looking. *sigh* Some super nurse I am, huh?

I came home after that weekend and spent every spare second playing in my yard (gardening - lol) and getting ready for the Sux fest I was going to host Mother's Day weekend. 8 days before the fest took place I got a phone call that Granny was at the hospital and was going to be admitted to the hospice facility.
When my aunt realized that there truly was very little they could do for her, she wanted to take her home but Granny refused. She was comfortable where she was, and she wanted to stay. In an amazing cycle - one of the LPN's (Dena)_ who worked there, and took care of her - in fact was there when she died - had been a new nurse at the end of my Granny's nursing career nearly 30 years ago, and knew her then. It helped a lot to know that she also looked at Granny and remember who she was - the strong, caring, opinionated woman who LOVED being a nurse, a wife, a mom and a Granny, turned her yard into an ice sculpture every winter as soon as the night time temps went below freezing, had stuff growing EVERYWHERE, and would give up almost any other activity for a chance to go fishing. Man she loved to fish! To Dena, as to the family, Granny was more than what the heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and brittle old age had made her.

To my eternal relief Granny's passing was as peaceful as PawPaw's was tortuous. I'm sure she was eager to go find Lloyd (PawPaw) and see what he'd been up to in her absense. I'm sure she had a huge crowd of loved ones waiting for her arrival, with PawPaw and Uncle Delvin leading the crowd. If heaven is a place where you do what you want, she and Uncle Delvin are probably out fishing. LOL

As at my grandfather's death, I got to know some of my relatives better. This time, for the first time since I was a teenager, I spent some time with my cousins Teresa and Tim, as well as Dan's daughter, Amanda. This was the first time I'd spent time with Amanda since she'd been a very small child - and she's grown into a lovely woman. This was the first time that I'd spent time with cousins Teresa and Tim since _I_ was an adult, and I really enjoyed it! 5 or 6 years age difference doesn't sound like much, but when you're 12 and they're 17/18 it's a huge gulf. For the first time since I was very young, all eleven of the grandchildren were together. That doesn't sound like it should be so difficult, but ... my grandparents had four children. Their two sons were career Army men, and their daughters married career Navy and career Air Force men. The 11 of us grew up all over the world! Of the 11, one married military, and one, my youngest brother, went into the Air Force - the rest of us decided a civilian lifestyle looked very appealing. LOL

One very interesting note - after the funeral home visitation, my aunt Libby and her children were outside the funeral home and Granny's niece Nita Rae took a family snapshot of them. When NitaRae developed the film the next day, all the photos came out fine except for that one. There were either three or four people in the photo, with my cousin Dwayne in the middle. Directly over where Dwayne was in the photo was a long thin splash of light - covering his face and most of his body. Unlike a normal light leak it did not go from one side of the photo to the other but was centered directly over him.

Given the fact that two of the biggest disappointments in Granny's life were the facts that neither Dwayne nor I have married, I'm fairly certain that was her way of letting Dwayne know she was keeping an eye on him. To my mind, that's a good thing; maybe she'll be too busy keeping up with him to worry with me overmuch. :-D

This is getting ridiculously long, so I'll stop now and address other events in another entry.