My Longest Year

"where are you?"

I've been a busy bee here...and as many things as I have to write about...I have just not had the energy left over to put it down here.

But I promise, I am still here.

friday find (on Sunday): blueberry toes

  

I'll keep this short (because, really, a post about nail polish shouldn't be lengthy)...I love all those fun new choices for colors out there but they usually wind up looking a little bit cheap.  This color, however, wound up toe-ing the line perfectly between "trendy" and "kinda pretty."  Ew. Toe pun.

Ashlyn is enamored with my entire vanity routine (consisting mostly of a hair dryer and deodorant, both of which she likes to take part in).  So when I sat down to slap this on my toes she plopped herself down and yanked her shoes off, then waited, impatiently, for me to do the same for her.

Check out the way affordable "West Village" by NYC - at the "circle with a dot in it" store near you (this is Evyn's overly-verbal way of saying "Target.")

scenes from a hospital

Grandpa was on the fifth floor, ICU.  Nana on the 8th.  I was only there a couple of days, and spent a significant chunk of one afternoon shopping for "rehab clothes" for Nana.  But in the time I spent with them I couldn't help bring out my camera, in part for something to do.

Grandpa wanted to take his glasses off.  But I insisted he  leave them on. 

Nana didn't want me to take a picture of her at all.  But she was trapped in a bed, so I told her to get over it and make a face.

Nana's brother (Uncle Will Dee) and his wife were there to help.  Uncle Will Dee has the most innocent way about him.  I guess it's that crew cut and those adorable ears.  And probably his kind heart.

That's Mom.  Taking care of her mom.

Nana's luggage.  I heart her stuff.  It's all so vintage and sweet.

On the phone with Grandpa, who called from his room to make sure she was okay.

losing independence

Last week I made a quick, last-minute trip to Nashville, Tennessee.  Nana and grandpa both fell and broke their hips within a week of each other.  They're lucid.  They have their wits about them.  They've built a life for themselves and have their routines.  They've lived a long, happy life and now it's happening.  They're losing their independence.

They were in different rooms, on different floors.  I toggled back and forth between them.  At first we had a good time, laughing a little at the situation.  But then, toward the evening they each got somber.  Reality is setting in and they're not happy.  The short-term plan is to share a room at an in-patient rehab center.  But after that?  There is a laundry list of reasons that life is going to be difficult if they attempt to go back to their home and their life as it was before. 

Nana is pissed.  And Grandpa is just somber.  "I guess it's the beginning of the end, Crys."  I'm more hopeful.  Yes, they're up there in years.  But I'm hopeful that a broken hip doesn't mean the end.  Having said that, the fact that both of them are at major risk for falling again, it does mean they have turned a corner.  And now have a lot of realities to face.

I can't imagine what this must feel like.  To be held hostage by a body that fails you.  And be cared for (and treated) like a three year old, especially after all that they've been through in their life.  They've worked especially hard for their home and their life.  And now people are telling them they may have to give it up. 

As overwhelming as this all is for them, it's also a bit overwhelming for my mom, who is an only child.  She's there with them now, but she lives across the country, and isn't as capable of caring for them as she'd like to be.  And they're stubborn and mad and not taking suggestions well.  This has to be hard for all of them. 

Do any of you have any advice?  Online forums?  Resources?