GRACIE UPDATE: So. We went to see Gracie, today. My neighbor Bill drove. Bill has known Gracie for many years. His mom was her best friend. She died, recently. They were next door neighbors, here at the park. This was Gracies first day, in the convalescent home. She looked smaller than usual, from the back. She had a Barbi fuchsia t-shirt on, and psychedelic leggings. Her grey and silver hair was fairly disheveled.. No make-up. She seemed to recognize me. She didnt call me by my name, but she called me Sweetheart. She called me Sweetheart, before. I sat with her, while she very slowly ate her lunch. I helped her to remember to use a fork. She was having a terrible time with pushing corn onto a knife and eating it that way. I buttered her bread.I rubbed her back, and gave her a hug and a kiss. There was live music playing, in the dining room. They played an Elvis song and she perked up. Im all shook up.:. she piped up. There she is... now shes gone. Id see a little bit of the old Gracie was back, but then she would drift away, again. I told her Bits was o.k, and being taken care of by her son and granddaughter. She corrected me and said her whole name, Little Bits. She remembered her dog. I showed her a picture, but it was blurry, of course. She nodded her head and tried to absorb it. Little Bits, she repeated and nodded her head, again. In between small bites -- and she still ate all her dessert -- she recognized songs and sang them. Moon River... The Twist, and Summertime. She sang nicely to that one. I started to cry. Are you o,k., Sweetheart? she asked. Even in her lost state, she was mothering me. I told her I was sentimental over the song. She said, Well that is sweet, but dont cry. Bill wheeled her back to her room. As I walked beside her, she said, It will be o.k., Sweetheart. Everything will work out. It will work out, dont worry. Was she talking to herself, or me? Wasnt I supposed to be comforting her? Maybe a little of both. Oh, this is hard. Bill pointed out the bird feeder, outside the window. We sat down and showed her all of her favorite channels and we picked out an old movie to watch. Something with Judy Garland and one of her husbands. Mickey Rooney. He was cute! A spark of Gracie. I brushed her hair and she liked that. Are you sure it looks o.k.? There is no mirror, in here. There she is. You silver fox, I said. Yellow finches came to the bird feeder. I took that as a good sign. I kissed her head and said good-bye and she said, I knew you wouldnt stay that long. Youre young. Go do your thing! I dont blame you one bit! I will come visit again, I told her. Bye, until next time.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 03:02:30 +0000
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