Except I didn't.
I was a neglectful granddaughter last week and did not see my grandparents as much as usual. I only saw them on Monday and on Saturday when my grandpa called me and told me that my grandma had to talk to me, which means I have to go there since her talking is writing on a pad of paper.
On my drive there--all of 5 minutes--I was wondering what she could possibly need to tell me. Of course, my mind goes straight to Days of Our Lives material. She has to tell me some deep, dark family secret before she forgets it forever. What could the secret be? I was kind of nervous.
When I arrive, she is greatly agitated, and it sounds like maybe she had hit my grandpa. She hadn't. She had thrown some stuff but not at him. Just throwing in frustration. It's something the women in my family do at times. She was frustrated that there isn't any more treatment for her cancer. She wrote in big, huge letters on her notebook paper: "HELP ME" and "CALL BRENDA" (my mom). Also, "YOU WON"T HELP ME" By help she means treatment, I guess. She also wrote, "Who said no more help" She's a fighter, that one. A forgetful fighter, so we have to have this discussion with her several times a week if not several times a day: there is no more treatment for your cancer.
After the dust settled, I went home to a crab feast since Wayne and my parents had gone earlier that day. I made plans to be at the grands again today.
Today was a good day. She was active, cheerful and animated. She dusted while I vacuumed all the carpeted areas in the house. One of the carpeted areas of her house is the dining room, in which a big china hutch sits. It's filled with tea pots and various glassware from her past. She has a glassware set from Ireland that her great-grandmother brought over, from what she told me today. See, this is the thing that sucks. She has told me this stuff over and over throughout the years. Was I listening? Nope. Now I'm worried that I won't get the correct info from her (she is easily confused about people and dates--there's a lot of them to keep straight). Pay attention to what the old folks say to you because someday, they may not be able to tell you. And it's lost. The whole damn story.
We're standing in front of the china hutch, and she's pointing out pieces, when she pulls out two shot glasses. I say, "oh, is it time to do some whiskey shots?" She laughs and calls for my grandpa to come in. One of the glasses has a crack, so I say, "looks like someone slammed this one down too hard on the bar." right when my grandpa comes in and says, "Coulda been Jesse James"
My grandma's grandpa Walters was sheriff in Kansas City, Missouri, and Jesse James came into the Green River bar (saloon?) there. Her grandpa kept the glasses Jesse James drank from, and now there they are sitting in my grandma's china hutch with all her delicate tea pots and crystalware. I was able to do a one-woman re-enactment of how I envisioned their meeting went, which amused my grandma.
Needless to say, we didn't drink any whiskey.
I tried to get a photo of the plastic grocery bags that my grandma has neatly folded, but she walked in on me. I didn't want her to see me taking a picture of the evidence of her OCD behavior. Who folds plastic grocery bags?
After all that, I never had time to get my own house clean. Oh well. There's always tomorrow...
