I have some really hard news that had me in desperate tears with God Saturday night. My 91 year old grandmother just moved from my parent's house into an assisted living facility and fell on the first night at what was supposed to be the “better place” for her. After dinner she locked canes with someone else and went down. She was rushed to the hospital (which is right across the street) because she thought her leg could be broken. I was on the phone with my parents telling them of the extreme pain I'd been in for about 20 minutes (see above), when their other phone rang and they got the news about Grandma's fall. They were in the middle of their first dinner without having to feel the weight of the responsibility of caring for Grandma. They rushed me off the phone saying they had to finish their dinner and get down to the hospital. A couple hours later we got a call from them telling us that Grandma had broken her hip and will need surgery in the morning and will have to live at a skilled nursing home.
Chris and I prayed to God to use this situation for the good of those who love Him, as Grandma is certainly one of those, the rock of our family, the person who taught me to have faith in all situations and not to give up on our Lord who is
always with us for comfort, companionship, love and mercy. She survived the car crash that killed my grandfather 33 years ago. She had been in a full body cast and on life support but has lived on her own until this year and attributes it all to God's work and grace in her life. - So we prayed for Grandma's comfort and to be close to Jesus and that His will be done in this situation. We prayed for our whole family to be able to get through this and see God at work, since it has been a hard enough year and we all want to know what God is up to with Grandma and her life. He is in control and knows best, even when we think it would really be easier our way. We were all just so shocked that this happened and wish we could just back up and make it not to have happened, especially on her first night there. She didn’t even get to sleep in her new bed from Target that she was so excited about.
And I'm pretty worried about my mom's stress level and ability to get through this next challenge. Her words on the phone before hanging up for the night were heartbreaking, in light of all my mom has gone through over the past 5 months. First she said to me, "Please thank Chris for helping us move Grandma this morning. He was so much help and a great person to have around when you need someone to keep the mood up and the task going." Then she said, "We thought it was going to be a good day and now it wasn't." This was really hard to hear, and a very true statement. We were all hoping that Grandma was going to a place where she was going to be able to enjoy the last days of her life and have a repreive from the pain she had from her last fall (Jan) and her boredom and worsening dimensia symptoms - a place for her to make friends her own age, play scrabble and laugh and enjoy being old - to feel blessed in her old age, not cursed. Why do old people have to deteriorate and fall apart when they should be able to rest and relax and impart all their wisdom, love and experience on the younger generation???? I guess if there wasn't the pain and falling apart, they wouldn't slow down and would be
just as restless as we are.... only God knows why they
have to go through this torture. Some kind of metal
winning process. Funny that Grandma always makes the
joke "What do want for "this", a metal?"
So yes, we had a pretty crazy weekend, but faith building, to say the least. Grandma survived hip surgery surgery yesterday (Sun) and is going to be on the mend and ready to move into her new place. I’m working on talking my mom into investing in a nice wheelchair for her to get from her room to the dining area and maybe she’ll need a sign to wear that says “I can’t see, I can’t walk and I can’t hardly hear, so be NICE to me and don’t let me trip over your cane or I’ll hit you with mine” Now she has a hard road to get better, but at least she got through the surgery. She is such a strong person and an amazing example of who I’d like to be like. I don’t know that I’d wish her sufferings she’s had in her life on anyone really, but I really admire her faith in God, despite the hard life she’s lived. She still loves Him and finds joy and love and peace and blessings wherever she goes and whatever she does.
I was very proud of my mom yesterday. She was strong and clear minded and I gave her a little back massage after we found out Grandma was ok and I told her she did good. That's when mom said, "well they say it just makes you stronger. Everything makes you stonger" She has been through quite a bit with her mom. and is hanging in there
doing all that she needs to do. I love seeing how much love my mom truly has and realizing in my later years,
really since I moved out, how much she loves her family and and is willing to do anything for us. GO MOM! Please pray, if you haven't already figured out that my family needs it right now, that my mom can get through this next phase of taking care of her mom. She really needs to just take it one day at a time, as my sister wisely pointed out today, but has a hard time not thinking about the future and what the next step is for grandma. We're hopeful that she can move back to the assisted living place that is decorated so nicely and all the cute old ladies are hoping to make friends with the little new lady that fell on her first night there - but that is a while away, after she gets healed from this surgery. One step at a time. Hopefully one wheel at a time for grandma if she can get the wheelchair that my sister and I are hoping she'll LOVE! Blessings to all who are reading this. I hope my grandma is an inspiration to you too in whatever is going on for you. :)
