Granny Leaves Us and Leaves a Gift

I had forgotten just how hot it can be here. We were getting on to late summer, and the humidity kicked in like a warm, steam bath. The sun blazes from 8am to late afternoon, and really the only thing to do is to stay out of it.

It was a Sunday just like this when my mom called to tell me that my beloved Granny was very sick in the hospital. This was no surprise

Since my grandfather passed 9 months before, in November 2011, Granny had been suffering from a series of serious health problems. First, a stroke that nearly killed her. A fall, then another fall. Upon moving out of her house of nearly 30 years and into assisted living (her "nest" as she called it), she had yet another fall in the bathroom, stranding her for several hours and breaking her hip in the process. She next developed congenital heart disease. Finally, she ended up with a slow-to-be-discovered ruptured intestine. That episode put her through a couple of horrific hours before she underwent intensive surgery that the doctors did not think she would survive.

She did survive, but it was clear to all that Granny was failing. This was confirmed to me by Granny herself when I came home for a visit in April - she said, "Alicia, I don't have much time left." I walked away from her the last day knowing that I would not see her again in this life.

Yet there was a finality in my mother's voice that afternoon that I hadn't heard before, even after so many months of hearing bad news over the phone.

I've always been overly sentimental, so I surprised myself at how well I took this news from her. Upon hearing from my mother on Sunday that Granny's heart disease was worsening and that her kidneys had begun to fail, we knew it was time. This was devastating, especially because I wasn't able to return to the US to be with her in those final days.  But Granny in her way made it bearable by giving us a glimpse of what she had to look forward to.

Here is what happened in the last few days of  her life.

Sunday, July 22. She entered the hospital, and my mother called to tell me that she was not doing well. They were making her as comfortable as possible. She said she expected that this was the end. She was barely conscious and her system was failing.

Monday, July 23. She rallied, as it's called, and talked the whole day through! She called out to her mother and father in conversation with them, then apparently to my grandfather, as she responded to the air and to no family member in the room, "I love you too, dear." "Dear" is what she and my grandfather called eachother.
She said thank you to my family for all they had done, and told me she loved me on the phone and was ready to go.

Tuesday, July 24. She worsened again.

Wednesday, July 25, the day she died. She once again rallied, but this was as she again saw the other side, apparently.
She told the family members assembled at her bedside that someone was making a bouquet of flowers for her.
She asked my mother to "make sure my hair is brushed and looks pretty. They are having a dancing party for me tonight."
Finally, she said to them "I can walk again! I couldn't when I came here but I can walk again."
She repeatedly asked for my parents' dog, Quigley, who was at home at the time. She thought maybe he could hear her calling for him. My mother went home and brought Quigley, and around 11:45 am, she passed away with her family and Quigley in the room.

Granny was always was happy to be alive. She went on to the afterlife with that same cheerfulness and spirit of excitement. When it's my time, I am pretty sure she will be waiting for me on the other end with a beautiful smile on her face.