Riding in the Hit Parade

Today, I was "Annie"to Gran most of the day. Granny was especially sharp today. As usual, it took me a bit to catch on to it but once I did, we were  rollin'.

Granny slept in her new "hospital" bed last night. She only asked me about the rails 2 times. After I assured her a couple of times that I was going to be in the bed right next to her and would help her up if she needed to get up, she went right to sleep and had a great night of rest.

Rachel, Henry and Milo came over this morning to sit and visit with Granny while I went to my Saturday morning Bible Study. It was my first time out of the house since Monday. I ran around like a new mom when Rachel got here, showing her all of Granny's things and where to get this and how I do that. 

Our Bible study topic was speech. Well, we talked a lot about talking. :) I'm so glad that we get to meet every week. It is good to meet together and talk about what God is showing us through His word and through the author of the study. I am very thankful to Rachel for coming so that I could still take part.

When I got back home, Rachel helped me get Granny a bath. We don't have a full bath downstairs. Granny did well though with the stairs with both of us beside her. Gran had watched "Mrs. Miniver" with Rachel after breakfast while I was gone. So after her bath, I assumed that she would be tired enough for a nap. She sat in her recliner for 45 min or so trying to doze off with no success. 

I thought that it would be a good time to try some music. Granny is virtually deaf and usually lip reads most of what she gets from conversations so this was a long shot. I really can't understand what she hears and what she doesn't. Some sounds will startle her when others don't make her blink. It was worth a try. Dinah and I danced a bit to the music and Gran thought we were funny. 

I handed Gran the cd cover so that she could look at the pictures of the artists of the songs that were playing. 

I purchased it a while back at Sam's club just for me. I didn't know that we would have an opportunity to listen to it together. It has some Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett (Young Tony), Lena Horne, and Frankie Laine among others. 

She has always loved to read but as of late she just doesn't seem to be able to. She either isn't interested or tries and then gives up. Well, I noticed that she seemed to be reading the paragraphs about the songs and the Hit Parade that were on the inside cover. 

That got me excited. I calmly walked over to get something special. After Eric's mom, Wanda, passed away, these were found among her things. No one else wanted them so I gladly took them.

 Aren't they neat? I love old things. They are Reader's Digests from the 1930's. The stories are still great and it is fascinating to read about the medical progress of the day or the news items. I grabbed one and sank to the chair beside Gran and showed her my treasure.

She said, "Wow, these are really old."

I nodded my head and asked, "Isn't that neat?"

She nodded as well and began to flip through the pages. I busied myself about the room and cast a glimpse her way as often as I could. I was almost holding my breath, hoping that she didn't just lay it on the table beside her chair as she had so many other things that I had offered her in the past few days.

She didn't put it down. She turned the pages for a bit and then settled at the beginning and began to read. And continued to do so for another hour! I was so glad that she was able to find interest in something else. She may not even look at them tomorrow but she enjoyed them today.

I've been hunting things that I think she might like and since the movies are working (She recognized Katherine Hepburn today all on her own), I think we'll keep viewing them as long as it keeps her engaged and happy. I am enjoying the movies myself. They are all ones that I love too. I learned to love them in her living room so long ago.

This evening she was doing so well, that when she lay down to sleep for a bit, I felt comfortable leaving her with Eric and the kids to go to Wal-mart for some needed items. I waded through the teenage crowd in the electronics section to look and see if they had a particular new movie that the kids wanted to see. While I was scanning the racks, I came upon this:

I went ahead and got it for us and we will probably have a mini marathon of "Road To" movies tomorrow. We loved these so much. I haven't seen them in quite some time and look forward to sharing them with her. We used to watch these after Gran had recorded them on her VCR. They would come on in the middle of the night on one of the network channels. (We never had cable. It still doesn't run to Hightown. You can get satellite though.)

I hope that tomorrow is a good day for her too. It is a Sunday as you know. She asks for me to tell her what day of the week it is everyday. I have always been able to tell her what day it is without any trouble, but to say "Sunday" is going to be hard. She has already asked me 4 times tonight, "What time do we need to get up in the morning?" She wants to go to church. I would offer her a worship service right here (I'm not ashamed to preach or sing and I know the Holy Spirit would come if we ask Him) if that would help her, but I am afraid it would confuse her more. It is hard for me to think of good things to say that aren't a falsehood to keep her from thinking about what I can not explain or change. 

There are so many situations that I don't know what to do. I pray that God gives me the wisdom I need while I try to gain knowledge about what is best for her and in line with Him. I pray that He won't mind us dwelling on Bing and Bob tomorrow to keep us from being too upset about being at home when our hearts are with our fellow believers elsewhere. 

Thanking God for all the days with Gran, not just the good days, but they are nice when they come.

Anna Becoming