Grandma Grace

This was supposed to go up last week but it seems there were some technical difficulties between Microsoft and Blogger.  Hopefully they have worked out their differences, and I can be the reliably  intermittent blogger I used to be.

I told you guys last week that I was traveling to Michigan.  It was a very quick midweek trip: I flew out of RDU at 8:15 Tuesday night and arrived back at RDU at 10:15 Wednesday night.  Shannon and I flew up there for our Grandma Grace’s memorial service.  My mom flew in from Charlotte and my dad flew in from Kansas City.

Grandma Grace died on Friday, May 1^st after traveling back to MI from Florida.  We are so thankful that she and my Papa (prounounced puh-puh) were able to get back to Michigan where the family is.  Papa has Alzheimer’s and needs full-time care to ensure his safety and health.  Luckily, Grandma Grace is a planner and she had already looked into some homes for him should the day come that she was no longer able to take care of him at home so he was able to transition from the condo to the hospital to an assisted living facility fairly smoothly.

The thinking is that Grandma Grace was probably having some heart trouble as early as Monday of that week and then the stress of traveling exacerbated whatever was going on.  She was going about her evening, sat down in her recliner, and we hope passed away peacefully while she was taking a few minutes to herself.

As I said, Grandma Grace was a planner.  When my sisters and I flew up there (by ourselves!) for a visit when we were younger (around ages 6, 8, and 10), Grandma Grace had the whole week planned out.  And not just in her head – she had an itinerary typed up (on a typewriter!) with times and everything.  I’m not as organized as that, but I definitely appreciate her Type A-ness.  It came as no surprise that she also had her service planned out ahead of time.  It was a very nice service, and I have no doubt it went exactly the way she anticipated, from the opening remarks to the reading to the bagpiper at the end.

We are so thankful that Grandma Grace took such wonderful care of Papa.  They married in the mid-80’s and she kept him in line from then on.   Her family embraced Papa – or Papa Jack as they call him – as one of their own and they continue to do so.  He is very lucky to have so many people looking after him.  He has quite a sweet tooth so I will be sure to send him monthly care packages of treats.  He won’t recall me when they tell him who they are from, but I know he will enjoy them and that will make me happy.

My Grandma Grace was a lovely and generous woman who loved her family, forwarding emails, cats, antiques, and traveling.  We were fortunate to be a part of her life.