Grandma's Angels

    Grandma loved to visit and reminisce about the old days. She had enjoyed school and talked about it at every opportunity. She loved quoting bits and pieces of Latin she remembered.

    Her brothers played for local dances. Grandma loved to dance and they teased her, saying, "Don't stick your seat out so much when you dance, Dot." Grandma was a little on the round side, but I have been told she could dance a pretty mean Charleston.

    She played solitaire by the hours. The cards had grooves along the edges where her thumbs gripped them during shuffling. The cards were so worn it was like trying to shuffle tissue paper. You could barely read what they were, they were that worn. Every Christmas she received a new deck of cards and every Christmas she carefully put them in the buffet and shuffled her poor old cards some more.

    An avid reader, she went through hundreds of paperback books. There were stacks of Louis L'Amour and Luke Short books in wooden flats in the corner.

    Grandma's green thumb was evident in the flourishing jungle of house plants in the south window. If someone admired a plant, Grandma would snip a little piece off, put it in a plastic bag with a little water and pin it to the curtain. Soon she would have a rooted plant for that person to take home.

    She loved hamburgers, French fries and chocolate malts. But don't we all?

    Over the years small strokes and hardening of the arteries took away the Grandma I knew. She started talking to herself, shutting out the world that didn't make sense to her any longer. She and Grandad came to live with us when he could no longer care for her. She was very ill and had been mis-diagnosed. A change of doctor did wonders, but Grandma never quite returned.

    Then Grandad passed away.  She knew he was gone, but didn't seem to know what to do about it.
 
    Grandma got to the point where she spoke very little and quite often you couldn't understand her. What a terrible thing to happen to someone who loved to visit.

    Whenever we had the Nashville channel on she would sing along. She especially liked singing along with Waylon. Not necessarily the same thing, but singing just the same.

    Grandma had been doing fine until her kidneys shut down. Mom spent day and night by her side, trying to ease her pain. The painful struggle went on for days, taking its toll on Grandma and on Mom. We were preparing for the worst.

    In the hospital when we thought there was no hope, her kidneys started working again and she rallied. We couldn't believe our eyes.

    But the change was short lived, just a few months. Months that gave us time to be with Grandma. She knew Mom and I were there and would laugh with us when we talked about funny things that had happened. We knew she was aware of more than others realized; that Grandma was still there inside but just couldn't get out.

    When we got the call one evening my husband LeRoy and I went to the hospital to be with Grandma, Mom and Dad.

    Mom and I were sitting with Grandma as she slept. Mom was exhausted and dozed in a chair at Grandma's bedside. I was sitting across from Mom and watching Grandma sleep.

    Suddenly Grandma's eyes fluttered and opened. Looking at a place over my mom's head, Grandma's eyes lit up and she started to smile and to quietly speak, nodding her head from time to time. She looked so happy and peaceful, like she was with a long lost friend.

    I felt a thrill pass through my body as I watched. In a few moments Grandma closed her eyes and slept peacefully. When Mom awoke I couldn't find the words to tell her what I had witnessed. Later I told LeRoy I had watched Grandma speaking with her Angels.

    The next morning a nurse called and said Mom needed me. My heart was in my throat as I drove the 17 miles. I hurried, but couldn't get there before Grandma passed. At her bedside I said my last good-bye and thought about the night before and knew she hadn't been alone.