over two little days last week, maddalena and i joined my mom on one of her regular visits to see her mother, my bettye mom, who is unfortunately living with alzheimer’s disease. in the past, i feel like it’s been really emotionally tiring for me to see her and try to wrap my mind around how she is now and who she was before and how i miss the old her, and her house, and my childhood memories… but this time… it was just really good to see her. whichever her it is, i needed it. she doesn’t seem to ever be able to quite pinpoint who we all are, but, you know, i guess we look familiar enough because she does seem to know that we’re somehow significant! she still says some of her own “bettyemom-isms” every now and then, too, and it’s just good to hear her voice. [at one point m sneezed and bettye mom said “scat tom!” i’d forgotten that she said that at sneezes! and i also had no clue what it meant, but it’s an old saying.] and i figured, if i ever wanted maddalena to meet bettye mom, her great-grandmother in our direct line of such fabulous strong-minded females 😉 well, i probably shouldn’t wait. also, the drive up to lexington is probably the only one i’m willing to journey with m right now. it’s kind of the perfect length, and our typical mid-way stop happens just in time for nursing and stretching and such before anyone becomes too traumatized by car seat hatred. so, we went on our quick jaunt and had ourselves a good little visit! well, except for the part where we got kicked out of our hotel room early the next day because they had to check for a gas leak. 1.) well, that’s kind of scary, and 2.) doooon’t. mess. with our slow morning wakeup routine. but all in all… it was just really good to see my grandmother! and i had fun with my mommy and my baby, too.
[our typical halfway stop at dairy queen // m falling asleep after a little bit
of a teary battle, clutching her bottle of teething tablets, bless her heart]
[bettye mom’s face lit up seeing miss maddalena and it was
the sweetest thing! something about that baby just clicked with her.]
[four generations! our line of ladies, all first-born females.
not the best quality photo in the world, but i love it so much.]
[in our little hotel room // and a target trip, where my sleepy baby
managed to pick out her own purse and carried it through the checkout!]
[maddalena on bettye mom’s bed with her new purse. sometimes i just miss being
around bettye mom’s “stuff,” so i enjoyed seeing my baby with some of it. silly, but true.]happy early valentine’s day, bettye mom! we really love you!
What a nice trip to make with little M. So glad she got to meet her, and that photo with her face just lit up! Aw, too precious. I love this post. I know how hard that can be, and you put it all so perfectly.
xo
this post melt my heart. i know exactly what your talking about… my granddad wouldn't be able to meet my kids one day because he's about to die really really soon and just hearing his voice and holding his hand and to see his face light up when my mum and i visit him is so good. sometimes.
so i really love that post and that you enjoyed the time with your grandma!
another thing…
i am doing a blog-representation on my blog and it would be such an honor for me if you leave a comment and be a part of this… <3
this post melt my heart. i know exactly what your talking about… my granddad wouldn't be able to meet my kids one day because he's about to die really really soon and just hearing his voice and holding his hand and to see his face light up when my mum and i visit him is so good. sometimes.
so i really love that post and that you enjoyed the time with your grandma!
another thing…
i am doing a blog-representation on my blog and it would be such an honor for me if you leave a comment and be a part of this… <3
beyond sweet. my grandmother is also drifting away from us with alzheimer's & it is so hard to see her now vs the memory of her. BUT i know visits like this mean so much to her & her doctor told us that though the memory of the visit may fade away within minutes, the emotional/warm happy feeling stays with her longer. just thought i'd share that for you too. 🙂
gosh Alzheimers is so hard. but i think in general watching our grandparents and eventually our parents get old is hard because they change and the people they were once are hidden or no longer there.
Oh that's so lovely that all four generations of women in your family could spend a little time together! I hope my grandmother is still around by the time I get around to having littlies!
My grandma has Alzheimer's too. It's not very bad right now, but I can't imagine what it will be like when I have children. I'm sure M loved seeing her Grammie and vice versa! XO!
4 generations together – so sweet! That picture will be priceless. I understand about Alzheimer's – my great-great-grandmother got it and it was really sad to miss the part of her that was gone even when she was still here.
xx Vivian @ http://diamondsandtulle.blogspot.com
I cried… as usual when I read your posts, too sweet!