my stepmonster [and i say that with great affection] has sent me an update about my paternal grandparents. after my father died, 10 years ago last friday, my stepmother stayed in PA for a while, then moved to denver, and eventually phoenix. my grandparents are living in sun city, and she basically takes care of them. their only other child, my uncle jerry, lives in LA, and he is there frequently. but it’s basically my stepmom who watches over them. she’s been a saint, really. although i doubt she’d agree, because she’s so tired and frustrated. [saints don’t get tired and frustrated.] but to me she is. here is an clip of what’s up with granddad:
At Christmas, I didn’t think he was going to make it through the night a couple times but he rebounded. He’s pretty much lost what was left of his mind now, however.
Yesterday when I was up there, he was in his wheel chair, which he can actually push himself around in. He was out in the hall and kept telling me he had gotten a hair cut but had walked out and hadn’t paid for it so he needed to go pay the barber. (I’ll point out here that his hair hasn’t been cut in months and even though he’s bald on top, the sides were sticking out all over the place.) He wheeled himself down to some old ladies room and was sitting in the hall yelling at her “how much do you charge for haircuts?”
I pointed out that this was not the barber shop and he insisted it was. Then he says, “well, she’s not too busy today. There’s no one here. She must be a crappy barber or there’d be more people here.”
Later, we had gotten him back into bed and I was sitting in his wheel chair talking to him. He said he needed a new wheel chair because this one was too small. In making small talk, I said it fit me pretty good. He says, “well, okay. I guess I won’t call you fat ass anymore.”
Gee, thanks, Grandad!!
i wish i could go down and help her… it looks like he will be released to a care facility soon. i hope he and grandma can be together again, as she is not as loopy as he is. but still quite loopy. she talks to me about my “uncle don” who died 10 years ago all the time. reminding me who my stepmother is, my uncle don’s wife. stuff like that. plus, she apparently is also loopy enough to believe all the loopy things my granddad tells her. her called her from the hospital telling her that someone had left him at the dentist and he needed someone to come pick him up. sigh.
my stepmom asked me to shot her if she ever gets that senile. and i think i will agree to it. unless … maybe being senile is fun?