Hey friends! I am finally back to blogging. We have had a busy week around here. Last Thursday we got the call that my grandmother, Grammy, was rapidly declining. I got ready and headed to the nursing home. She was awake and would occasionally nod to answer questions (sometimes). After a few hours we set a schedule as to who would stay with her around the clock because we knew it probably wouldn't be long and we didn't want her to be alone. By early afternoon everyone left and went home for a bit. Carl and I stayed with her, taking our turn first. The nurse came in and gave her some Ativan and she fell asleep. That was the last time I saw her awake. Carlie brought the kids by around 4 and then my uncle and sister came in to relieve us, we headed home to eat.
No more than we walked in the door and were about to cook, we got another call. Her breathing was becoming more labored. So Carl, Makena, and I headed back down. Trey came in his own truck. My parents also went back down. Grammy really didn't seem a lot different to me. Everyone left again, except me, Carl, Makena, my mom's oldest brother and his wife, and my Aunt Vicki (who was taking the overnight shift). We were just about to leave, and I noticed things were changing. Her color, her breathing was just a little off. I tried putting my Oura ring on her, but it wouldn't go over her knuckles, so Makena brought her Garmin watch to put on her. Her oxygen was a lot lower, and her heart rate was slower and her breaths per minute were also fewer. She had also started moving more again so Carl went and got the nurses. The brought her some morphine. My mom was called, Trey went to go wake my other uncle up, and before they even got there, she was gone. It was sad but so peaceful. She just stopped breathing.
There are so many unknowns about death, but I can tell you this for certain, she left without pain and opened her eyes up to the most beautiful sight ever. She was able to walk, talk, praise the Lord who she had spent her life serving. She saw my Papa, her parents, and maybe even her little dog, George Strait.
It was truly a privilege to be her granddaughter. She loved me well. She loved Carl and my kids, and grandkids. I will miss her, but to be honest, the past seven years have been a process of losing her. Little by little, dementia took her away from us. I miss the Grammy before dementia.
Her services were on Monday afternoon and were a beautiful tribute to her life of love and faith. As I sit here in the house she called home for 63 years (she's been away for the past three), I am filled with so many good memories. I am blessed to now own the place that she and my Papa built.
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