It looks like we were flying out to “save the day” rather than “say goodbye.”

Grandma perked up a lot, and while she’s still really frail, and really tired, she’s also more talkative, and laughed a lot with us. Her doctor looked at her yesterday afternoon, thoroughly impressed by her improved condition, and said “Mrs. Vernon, your grandsons have done more to make you better than anything we’ve done.”

We spent three or four hours there yesterday morning, then went out for a little over three hours in the afternoon, and headed back for a couple of hours in the evening. We could tell that Grandma was NOT going to sleep while we were in the room, so it was necessary for us to bail for a while when it was apparent that she was trying NOT to nap, even though she was exhausted.

She had her first solid food yesterday, too. That hospital food is always nasty stuff, but she packed it away, and got hooked on the “Boost” drinks they were bringing with each meal. Mmmm… chalky old-folks milkshake. It reminds me of when Sandra was so sick I had to force HER to drink those things for two weeks straight.

They brought coffee with each meal, which surprised me a bit. That’s powerful stuff, there. Of course as a mormon Grandma didn’t WANT the coffee, so we dumped it and brought her warm water instead. Then in the evening she decided she wanted a Coke. Since there was coffee with dinner, we figured they knew she’d be getting the caffeine anyway, so we complied. I got a picture of her swigging the stuff from her hospital bed, but when my brothers said “label out! label out!” she didn’t understand the joke. Oh well, no corporate sponsorship deals for her.

During our afternoon break Randy, Bill, and I went to the park and played disc golf. The Calvert Park course is really nice, although it’s also really closely packed. Had there been lots of players it would have been easy to get hit in the head with a disc thrown on a hole adjacent to your own.

After we returned from the hospital in the late evening, we watched “Last Comic Standing” and then played a couple of rounds of “Star Munchkin.” Billy won both times, and in the second game he had the Schlock card in play. It’s the lucky card in our deck. I suppose I should be thankful that HE won rather than me. This means I’ll have playmates next time, too…

–Howard

I’ve never seen Grandma so overjoyed to see anybody.

Part of this is that she’s always been, to my memory, just a little bit emotionally reserved. She’s quiet. She’s a slightly silly flavor of dignified. She’s patient.

Tonight, when Randy and I stopped by, she was obviously very drained and very tired, and equally obviously overjoyed to see us.

I keep using that word “overjoyed.” She was happier than she had the energy to express. And when I contrast that with my previous experiences with her, it’s pretty dramatic.

This trip came into being on what seemed at the time like a whim. “I can’t just drop everything and fly to DC, can I?” was my first thought. By the time it was all said and done, THREE of us were dropping everything to come out. And according to my Aunt, when Grandma heard about that yesterday, she perked WAAAAY up. Kay was worried Sunday that Grandma had resigned herself to the slide into the next life, had given up on hanging around here anymore. Well, after hearing that her boys were on the way, she found a little more purpose.

She told me a couple of times that she wished my Mom could have been here to see us. “She’d be so proud.” I told her “Mom knows we’re well. She’s watching over us. I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow.” I’ve told that story to a lot of people, but I don’t know that my Grandmother has ever heard it.

It’s sacred stuff. I don’t know that it’ll end up in a public journal entry.

Grandma wanted to be able to see the grandkids, and I remembered that on the plane as I’d been doing some Schlock image prep I’d found a bunch of photos. I THOUGHT I’d purged all the summer vacation shots from my laptop weeks ago, but apparently I didn’t. And it’s a good thing to. I told Grandma I had lots and lots — HUNDREDS of pictures we could look at on the computer, and I’d bring them in for her tomorrow. I just wish I had a way to print ALL of them out on nice paper for her to page through after my laptop and I go back home.

Serendipity. There are more examples of little things that have happened — little coincidences — that seem in league, in happy conspiracy, to ensure that Grandma gets a good dose of joy this week. Tomorrow we’ll see how much of that we can deliver.

–Howard

I’m hitting the road tomorrow (Monday) at 6:15am, boarding an 8:10am flight for Dulles (2:07pm arrival time), then driving to pick up my brother at BWI (4:45pm arrival time).

We’ll be in the Washington, DC area (Beltsville, mostly) on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, maybe taking an early-ish morning drive to College Park for some Disc Golf. Most of our time will be spent visiting our Grandmother in the hospital. Word is she’s doing well, and is heading for recovery and release, but everybody pretty much expects that within a few months she’ll be back, as something ELSE goes wrong. I just hope that the day or so we get to spend with her is a happy time for her.

Randy and I both fly out of BWI on Wednesday evening — me at 4:45, and him an hour and 10 minutes later.

I probably won’t be online much, but if I am, I’ll post an update. If you’re in the Beltsville/College Park area and want to join me for a game of Disc Golf at the crack of dawn Tuesday or Wednesday, post something to the Nightstar or Keenspot forums, and Sandra will put me in touch with you. No, I’m not putting my cell phone number in my Live Journal. 😉

–Howard

Turns out I’ve got 71,000 skymiles. You need 25,000 for a “sky-savers” round-trip ticket. So… two tickets, anywhere in the continental US, for a nominal service charge.

It also turns out that my 95-year-old grandmother is in the hospital. This makes the fourth (?) time in a year, and this time she ended up on a respirator.

Long story short… I decided to bag work for most of next week and fly out to see her. The earliest I can fly is Monday, and the “nominal service charge” comes to around $85 thanks to short notice, but it’s still better than the $1500 alternatives.

Once I decided to fly, I realized I still had a ticket coming to me. So I’m flying my brother Randy out from LA. Yeah, I have to pick up HIS service charge too. And I’m renting a car. And I’ve talked our youngest brother, Bill, into driving down to the DC area from Ithaca, New York.

I spent the evening pulling this together, and logistically, it’s pretty slick. I hate traveling, but I’m GOOD at it. And fortunately, that skill is good for something. Assuming Grandma survives the next two nights (and it’s looking pretty good on that front), all three of her grandsons will visit her on Monday night and Tuesday.

We’re either saying goodbye, or saving the day, I’m not sure which. It has no bearing on whether or not we travel, really. This lady RAISED my two brothers after our father died, and she was in her 80s. She paid off the mortgage on the home our parents “left” to us, and then refused reimbursement when we sold it two years later. You know how Grandmas will slip 20-dollar-bills to you when Mom and Dad aren’t looking? Well, this sneaky old lady managed to drop $30,000 into each of our pockets.

Seems to me that even if I DIDN’T have the skymiles, this flight is the least I could do. Hang on, Grandma. We’re comin’.

–Howard