I was sitting in my chair in the living room. Not being in coherent reality at 4pm after being up for over 24 hours, what was happening did not really register. I sat there for a bit and tried to process what I had been told. "Grama was taken to the hospital and was not doing well". What do they mean, not doing well? Do I need to come? Is this going to be the last time I have a chance to see her? Not knowing or able to get the answers, my first thought was get in the car and drive.
Now some may think that flying would have been the answer. Well getting from where I am to where I needed to be would have taken me over 24 hours via flights. Kansas City to Chicago to Toronto to Regina. Lay overs in all of the cities and then renting a car when I got there. I laid down and tried to sleep. Ya right. Got about two hours and was up and on the road at 1am.
Driving long distances by myself has never been an issue for me. This was just another long trip. Bad thing was, I was going to see the one person in my life that had been there since day one and did not want to miss seeing her. The drive took just shy of 18 hours. Now that is not how long it should have taken. I was tired and in a panic to get there. I saw a truck, it turned and I followed. Dam I can be so blonde sometimes. He turned, I turned, he turned, I didn't. I drove for over an hour without seeing a single car.
Most people that have farms, also work in town. Subsidising their income. Easier to eat that way. SO NO ONE ON ANY FARM EITHER. Called my husband crying. Tired, worn out and frustrated with everything, I called, the one person that was 1000 miles away. He says very calmly, "drive for another 5 minutes. If you don't see anything you recognize, pull over and have a sleep. Everything will look different in the morning". As usual he was right. I was less than a mile from the main road. I was at her bedside in less than 30 minutes.
I saw her. She saw me. We both started to cry. She said the only reason she was still awake was she knew I was coming. We hugged and kissed each other and I held her close to me. I laid my head on her shoulder and told her I loved her. She drifted off to sleep. I kissed her good night and left for the hotel.
Over the next few days, she began to perk up. Now most of you would think that was a good thing. I have been a nurse long enough to know that sometimes it is the rally before the end. It worried me. We all took turns going to the hospital and sitting with her. One of the days that I was there for lunch, I said to her, come on, lets get up and sit in the chair to eat. I'm tired and sick was what I heard. Being the nurse that I am, my response was "if you stay in that bed your going to get sick and die". Her response was "I'm 98, how long do you think I'm going to live"? She always had a smart ass remark to throw back at people. She got out of bed with my help and sat up making faces at me while eating lunch. That was a great afternoon. She thumbed her nose at me and stuck her tongue out. I have pictures to prove it. We had a good day that day. There were a few others like that before I had to leave for home.
Grama got to see my cousin Roddy in his Olympic suit and running gear with the torch. He did part of the Olympic torch run in 2010 prior to the torch being lit. We have pictures of them together, with her holding his hand on the torch. It was wonderful that she got to see that and be part of his historic part in the Olympics. That was the second time our family had been part of the Olympic torch run. My nephew Jason also did the run in 1984.
Our family has been very blessed over the years, and I am proud to say that Grama was a part of it all. She passed away quietly with her daughters by her side. She is and always will be one of the women that shaped my life. We were lucky to have a grandmother that was such a spitfire and had so much energy, right up till a few months before her passing. She will remain in our hearts and souls forever.
When I returned home, there was a gift waiting for me from two very special people. A wind chime. Beautiful, wood, copper and sounds like none I had heard. Sweet chimes. The card was not mushy or sad. It just said that whenever the chime rang, it was grama saying hello. That was by far the nicest sentiment anyone could have written. It hangs by my back door where I see it every day. Since that time, one of my granddaughters lost her other grandmother. I told her about the chime, and every time it rings out, we both smile and say "Grama saying hi, its going to be a good day".
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