Russ
03-24-2009, 05:36 PM
The title says it all. My grandmother died this morning, about 9:00 Pacific time.
In a way, it was almost perfect timing. She lived with one of my three aunts. Another one of the aunts had visited her two weeks ago, my family went to see her last week, and my other aunt was with he today when she died. So in the two week period before she died, she was able to see all of her children and most of her grandchildren.
For a long time, she's had Alzheimer's. The last time I went down to see her, she was doing really poorly. She was confined to a wheelchair, and literally rotting away before us. She would hardly eat anything at all. And on top of that, her memory was so bad that she could hardly talk, and on most days she wouldn't talk at all. Yes despite all that, she still recognized everybody. The last time I saw her, when I walked into the room, she looked at me and smiled, the same smile that she used to have when I was young and went over to her house. It was so sad to see her like that. She was so frustrated because she couldn't think of the words to say to me. She could just smile and whisper out "Hello."
In a way, I think she knew she was dying, and was trying to hold out until she could see everybody again. This morning, she seemed to do really well, seeming very alert and responsive. She even went to a lot of trouble to try and eat. Then she started having trouble breathing, and, well...
In a way, it's almost happy. She's in a better place now, done with Alzheimer's. But still, it's so sad, I can hardly bear it.
We're flying down to her funeral soon. I'm not sure when, but I won't be online during then.
In a way, it was almost perfect timing. She lived with one of my three aunts. Another one of the aunts had visited her two weeks ago, my family went to see her last week, and my other aunt was with he today when she died. So in the two week period before she died, she was able to see all of her children and most of her grandchildren.
For a long time, she's had Alzheimer's. The last time I went down to see her, she was doing really poorly. She was confined to a wheelchair, and literally rotting away before us. She would hardly eat anything at all. And on top of that, her memory was so bad that she could hardly talk, and on most days she wouldn't talk at all. Yes despite all that, she still recognized everybody. The last time I saw her, when I walked into the room, she looked at me and smiled, the same smile that she used to have when I was young and went over to her house. It was so sad to see her like that. She was so frustrated because she couldn't think of the words to say to me. She could just smile and whisper out "Hello."
In a way, I think she knew she was dying, and was trying to hold out until she could see everybody again. This morning, she seemed to do really well, seeming very alert and responsive. She even went to a lot of trouble to try and eat. Then she started having trouble breathing, and, well...
In a way, it's almost happy. She's in a better place now, done with Alzheimer's. But still, it's so sad, I can hardly bear it.
We're flying down to her funeral soon. I'm not sure when, but I won't be online during then.