Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Grandma Neva

We lost my Grandma last Friday morning. She was 94. Sam and I had gone to visit Thursday night, and she really wasn't looking well. We knew it would be soon. I'm glad she's no longer suffering. From start to finish this whole episode of illness was only 3 weeks. That's it. Just a couple months ago, she was doing well, self-sufficient practically. But this whole thing just crept up so fast. First she got pneumonia, then a mini-stroke, then a secondary infection, then just about the time they get the infections under control. Bam! She has a hemorrhagic stroke, a brain-bleed if you will. This was the whammy, the one she wasn't going to come back from. In fact, after that stroke on the 29th, Grandma herself was no longer there. They moved her into hospice that night, and stopped all measures but painkillers.
But she was strong, not just in personality, but in body, and she hung on for a whole week.

Years ago, she sent me a handful of pictures from back in the days when she and my grandfather were dating. They divorced in the 60s, but she never remarried. I scanned them in this week so that my Dad could use them for a photo presentation. She was looking good!

This first one was early in their marriage when Grandma and Grandpa were visiting his parents in La Jolla, CA. Grandpa came from a long line of Navy men, he bucked the system and went in the Army. Grandma was content to be an Army wife, though she'd worked at Hallmark in the days prior to meeting Grandpa.



This is one of my favs, Grandma on their D.C. home's front porch just after they adopted my Dad from Ireland.



Happiness comes from fondly remembering the departed.

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