oh happy day

gammer turned 89 years young yesterday. in lieu of me babbling, here are a few great gammer photos. :)

clothing optional?

apparently part of being older and having dementia is that you don't just forget things, but you become oblivious to them. case in point: lately gammer has occasionally neglected to put on a shirt. now i know that sounds really bad, but wait. usually this is under a jumper or a buttoned cardigan, so it's not like she's going around naked. if you point out the missing garment, she just shrugs. today, i tried getting her to put a shirt on under her cardigan, particularly when she was cold and put on a jacket. she was pretty dismissive of the idea so i let it go. now, it's a very nice day out and she is currently sunning herself on the front steps, in full view of anyone who might walk by and neighbors. thus you might try to imagine my terror when i happened to walk past and saw her unbuttoning her sweater. i realize she would not be naked, but really I don't need my 88 year-old grandmother to be on full view to the neighborhood wearing a plaid skirt and a bra. where i come from, which is this house actually, you just don't do that. I got her into a tshirt. you can rest easy if you happen to drive by. :)

an afternoon adventure

gammer pushing her walker/wheelchair. this is the greatest invention ever. she can walk easily when she likes and when she feels tired i can push her in it. when she's in it she's at a level much closer to kids in strollers and that makes her super happy. plus she can just watch people without having to focus on staying upright.





the attack of the phantom fork. gammer got so interested in both her lunch and mine that she finally forgot one of them was mine. she offered me some of my own steak, which i thought was very kind of her. :)





our ride home coincided with a gorgeous, amazing sunset. we did a lot of ooohing and ahhhing in the car.

a perfect day...so far

some days are bad, some days are great. today is a great day. gammer has spent the afternoon on the sofa reading and napping. i went for a ride and now I'm reading as well. everyone is happy and comfy and the cats, emma and I are eating cheese. oh happiness. :)

you can't win 'em all

try as I might, things in gammerland don't always go according to plan.

gammer's dementia can cause her mood to change quickly. case in point: it's a wet, cold, snowy day and gammer set up camp for the day at the dining room table. i put on a golden girls dvd thinking that would entertain both of us and it worked, for a little while. the first episode made her laugh. after the second one she started complaining about it being on, wanting to know why it was on, etc. so much for that! but hey, it happens. it's part of why it's difficult to go places with her, because one minute she's having a good time and the next minute she wants to go home. the good thing is that the mood can change again quickly. later on she'll probably talk about how much she enjoyed the show!

the other problem i run into is her forgetfulness and how i get the blame. on monday we went for a lovely ride to st albans, vermont with mary and had a fantastic lunch at One Federal. google it, pronto. on tuesday, gammer was briefly cross with me for not taking her for a ride the day before. it's a sad situation, because gammer doesn't like being old and it makes her sad. i can't really get cranky with her (well, i do, but i hide it from her) because it's not her fault that she forgets. aging is a weird, sad, mean part of life. fortunately, the good outweighs the bad and in the grand scheme of things gammer has had a great, wonderful, fun-filled life. :)

p.s. while I was writing this, gammer appeared to ask me where aurora is. i think she thinks i'm my mom. :)

a lifetime of movies

gammer, a lifelong movie nut, doesn't really go to the movies much anymore. she also doesn't really remember the movies she does see, like "the help". so watching the oscars with her is an experience both amusing and a little irritating. you tend to miss a lot of what is going on because she frequently asks, "who is that?" but she says it with such a disgusted look on her face that you can't help but laugh.

fun fact #1: gammer was six years old when the very first academy awards were presented.

fun fact #2: "It Happened One Night" was so popular when it was released that it was shown in the gymnasium of gammer's junior high school. it was something she happily remembered for a long time.

fun fact #3: I have had two steady movie dates in my lifetime: my mom and gammer. we are a movie family. :)

fabulous at any age

for your viewing pleasure, a recent photo of gammer, decked out in all her leopard-print finery. the coat and hat were both christmas gifts from yours truly. gammer used to frequently say, when watching old movies, that she always wanted a leopard coat. et voila!

the new world

over the last few months, i've had a few people repeatedly say, "you have to update your blog!" and yes, i agree, but we all know i'm an exceptionally lazy blogger! i'm a lazy vacuumer too, but that's another story entirely. people also say, "I love reading about gammer" and gammer seriously has a lot of fans out there and that is pretty awesome. it makes me happy.

I think probably the reason why I haven't posted in so long is that, aside from being lazy, there hasn't been a lot to say or at least anything really interesting! gammer has, unfortunately, gotten worse over the last few months, particularly in the last month or two. she's still pretty happy, but she gets tired a lot more easily and her confusion is worse, to the point that she doesn't always remember that this is our house. she often asks to go home, mostly in the evening when she is tired or if something has her upset. she gets a bit moodier every now and then, which I believe is related to her dementia. all that sounds kind of dire and honestly just typing it depresses me, so on to the good stuff! despite everything, gammer is still 99% happy and content (she doesn't like being old), loves the dog and the cats and the bird and the fish (phew!), loves watching the big bang theory, has a great appetite and is pretty much indestructible. she had a fall while out walking the dog and after scaring just about the entire block she was totally fine and forgot all about it. she has even been talking about taking a trip for her birthday, which may not happen, but i like that she was thinking about it. the last few times we've talked about going away for even one night she has ultimately changed her mind. so the fact that she said, "I want to go on a trip" is kind of neat. of course, she also says things like, "I think I'd enjoy a cruise" so i don't get too carried away with my daydreams or make any plans. :)

as for me, i am as well as can be expected from someone who has to vacuum even though they don't like to. ;) i do just about all of the housework and whatnot, but i also study, make things, daydream and cuddle my cats. i am a lucky girl, even if i do have to vacuum. :)