Day Thirty Nine - The Rest of The Story

Okay, so now that I'm awake & coherent... Let's find the rest of the excitement (!) in Saskatchewan...

...Granny is doing quite well, all things considered. It has been a great adjustment for her to make life work in the Lodge. She has been very independent & self-supporting for the past 30 years. Even when her legs quit working, she wouldn't give up. It took a lot of convincing for her to use the walker. I remember when she fractured her ankle, it really hurt & the doctors told her she'd only sprained it. She crawled around her apartment on her hands & knees, rather than calling someone to come & help her out. She didn't want to inconvenience anyone! Can you imagine?! What a gal! Her hearing is going & so is her vision, so watching TV or listening to the radio is out of the question. Most of the folks in the Lodge are not quite 'all there', so conversation isn't too rosy. My heart breaks most times when I go to visit her, but this last time, she was in great spirits. In fact, she brought a smile & a tear to my eye when she told me about the sunrise. She said she woke up the other morning & the sunrise was so beautiful. Pinks, purples, reds... She said she just sat there looking out the window admiring the amazing sunrise. She said she couldn't remember seeing a prettier sunrise & at 94 years old, that's a lot of sunrises! In fact, a quick punch on the calculator reveals - that's over 34'000 sunrises! I was thrilled that she found a little 'bright spot' despite the grim spot she's in.

We talked about her sisters growing up, Dad's first horse, her Samoyed dog, Snowball & how she had to leave Snowball behind when they moved to the city... It is always great to hear the stories of how things 'used to be'. The 'Olden Days' we used to call them when I was little. Granny used to come in & tell my brother & I bedtime stories - Chicken Little & Sweet Pea, making crocus chains, baking cookies, feeding the birds off her balcony & having tea parties... And of course, shopping. Perhaps that's where it began!

She was having surgery on her nose on Wednesday to try & help her hearing & her eyesight. I am not sure if the surgery was successful, but she did say it was definitely painful. It was very hard to say goodbye to her on Thursday, but I will be back to visit her in January. I'm sure she was sad to say goodbye to Valentina as well! 

Tuesday & Wednesday evening I stayed with Trisha. Trisha has been a good friend of mine since age 13. We were set up on a blind date by my Granny & her Aunt. We have been the best of friends ever since. Trisha was one of my 15 bridesmaids & drove all the way to Waterton with her then 9 month old little boy, Huxley. It was wonderful to spend a time at her house with both her boys, Buster & Huxley, and do some catching up. Buster enjoyed playing with Valentina, Huxley, well, not so much. We had a few good laughs & I particularly enjoyed sharing Photobooth with her. It's a MAC program that distorts the cameras image. Many joyful tears have been shed over this program, right Uncle Jerry? :o) I've included one of the gems from that night...

The drive home on Thursday got off to a late start. I visited Granny for awhile, ended up at Carol's again & finally left at 1700! I rolled into Swift Current & left a few calendars at Uncle Darryl's & then rolled on through to Maple Creek. I stopped in to see John & Julie & their new addition, Baby Seth. What a cutie! He must have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen! I presented them with the baby gifts & of course, the 1/2 eaten lion. We had a few good laughs over our experiences in Mexico - they had recently been to Puerta Vallarta. In fact, Julie found out she was expecting while she was in Mexico... Suspicious, she didn't want to buy the kit in town, as the local folk would talk. So she waited until she was in Mexico, piddled on the stick, but was none the wiser, as the instructions were all in Spanish! Back to the Pharmacist, who assured her, 'Si, si!' (Yes, yes!) Adding to that cute story, poor Seth's health card arrived, but there was an error in the application, as it came in the Delivering Doctor's name! Whoopsie! I guess that makes him the youngest MD in history!!! :o) Oh, btw, Julie has been a best friend since grade 4. She was supposed to be a bridesmaid, but considering her due date was the day of the wedding, she was off the hook from bridesmaid duty!! 

I left the Watson's around 2230 & headed home. Oh boy. Long drive. I sang, I ate, I sang, I ate, I recorded the dog playing with her bear, ate some more... Finally I rolled into the yard about 0230 SK time. 0130 AB time. I got out to get the gate & just about wiped out! Apparently we had some freezing rain! The Angels must have been with me, as I had wonderful roads the entire way home! I don't know how I could have driven on icy roads when the deck was a skating rink! Anyhow, I unpacked the car & as I headed into the house, Mom was just getting up. My brother, Jeff, split his knee open last Sunday. He was helping with some bull calves & I'm not too sure of the story, but it involved Jeff, a bull calf, a concrete pad, pipes & all that resulted in him splitting open his knee. Of course, it became infected & now he has to have IV antibiotics every 8 hours. So, as I crawled into bed, they were on the road to the hospital. 

I woke up around 0900 on Friday & got ready for my Doctor's appointment. Jeff had made arrangements to travel with me, as we were going to the same town & I was seeing the same Doctor he had seen just a few days before! I dropped Jeff off for his IV & I went to the clinic for my appointment. 

Okay, I'm going to post this & continue on in a moment... I don't want to bombard you with too much of a novel!!! 

Part III coming soon!!!


Love & hugs,
Maria & Valentina
xxxxx

Granny & Valentina bonding

Valentina snoozing on Granny's bed

Me & My Granny

Granny in her new sweater

The Schultz Family

Seth, MD

Julie & Seth, MD