Life...

My dad told me last night that my grandmother had her first major "episode". Apparently, she refused to eat for days...because she swears that Melissa is poisoning her...and wouldnt let ANYONE near her dog...in fears that everyone is out to get them. She was admitted to the hospital....and is doing better now.....and has no recollection of the past few days. They did a brain scan.....which revealed her brain has shrunk drastically since their last check......another sign that the dementia is taking over.

She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's almost 3 years ago. Her mind comes and goes...but has been under control thanks to some great medications. The downside of the drugs tho, is they make her VERY sleepy alot. We (Mike, Paige and I) drove to SC the summer of 2007 ...so Paige could meet her Great Grandmother...and it had been years since i had seen her too. Our stay was wonderful. Yes, my grandmother had her "moments"....but they were more of "states of confusion", rather than full episodes. She would repeat things....then wander off in mid-conversation. When she'd come back...she would look confused....appologize to us....then say she was tired and needed a nap. But when she was "there"....she was the same ol' grandma ive always known...which was reassuring to see.

Anyhow.... i am typing all of this, i guess....to release and organize my thoughts about everything. Grandma has been living with Melissa and her family in Charlotte for a year now. It was a huge step when she surrendered her independence and agreed to sell her house....the house her and my grandfather once shared.

My grandmother was always a super strong, independent woman. She had a wonderful childhood from the stories she told me. She and her sisters (no brothers!) grew up on a horse farm in the Canton/Stoughton Massachusetts area. Her father, Steven White was a professional baseball player (Played for the Boston Braves), before becoming a High School teacher & coach. All the sisters had horses. My parents have an awesome old b&w photo of them all on their horses....

I have such a hard time grasping the image of her being fragile or weak. Thats just not her.

In that photo above, she is the one sitting on the couch with the dark hair, all the way to the left. Standing above her, is my Grandfather, Matt....holding my Dad! Weren't they a hot couple?!

The woman standing next to my Grandfather is my Great Aunt Irene...and the man next to her is my Great Uncle Hank. His wife (my grandfather's sister), is Helen...she is sitting on the other end of the couch with the boy in the black shirt (their son, Scott). Helen & Hank were killed in 1977...in the infamous Pan Am airline crash in the Canary Islands (they were on vacation.) The 2 older folks sitting in the middle of the couch are my Great Grandparents....Leon & Anna....with Irene's son, Jimmy.

Ive always loved how everyone is always so dressed up in old photos!!!