Since we visited Arizona primarily because of Granny's 100th birthday, I'd like to take a moment and focus on our visits with Granny. Granny has lived a long and wonderful life, born in 1911, college educated in biology, married an orthopedic surgeon, and raised 6 children. She's always been very sharp, active, and engaging, but in recent years, her mind has slipped. She rarely speaks anymore, rarely smiles, is wheelchair-bound, and you don't always know if she is really connecting with you. I say this because you need the baseline to understand the contrast we saw.
We took Samuel to visit Granny on Christmas day. He had been a little cranky throughout the day because his schedule was still all mixed up, but we thought we'd try it anyway. We went into the nursing home where Granny lives and walked back to visit her in the cafeteria. Samuel was instantly, visibly, uncomfortable and became clingy and fussy. We were feeling stressed out over his reaction and decided that we needed to just leave. So Mom went to find someone to let us out and I gathered up our stuff and Samuel, and at the precious moment, Granny reached out her hand, touched me, and said "Stay." She was completely engaged in moment, despite Samuel's fearful behavior. We moved him out of the cafeteria and found a Santa Claus down the hall that he was interested in, and got a few more minutes out of the visit. It wasn't much, but I'll cherish Granny's words forever.
On December 26th, we had a family-wide gathering with Granny and managed to take a family picture with everyone who had visited, except two who were sick. Coordinating that large a group, with that many small children and a 100 year-old is quite a feat. I have to give it to my family for that one. Then Santa came to visit us on his way back to the North Pole and he dropped off some goodies while he was there. Samuel was terrified by Santa and wouldn't go near him. Granny just sat back and watched all the children. She didn't really engage directly, but was thoroughly engaged in watching them play.
Our next visit with Granny was on December 28th and this time, we brought my cousin Roslyn and her little boy Zane, who is also two. We also got smart, and moved the party out to the xeriscaped patio area. The two boys played together, ran around, and had a jolly time and all fear of the nursing home went out the window. They engaged more with Granny, who was happy to be wheeled around watching them. Sweet little Zane found a flower on the ground and gave it to Granny. She smiled and said "Thank you." Another precious moment I'll never forget. She also played peek-a-boo with the boys bring smiles to all our faces. It was the best visit I could have asked for. As we left, both boys gave Granny a kiss on the cheek to say goodbye.
The following day was our last in Sedona, so we went with my brother Andy's family for one last visit with Granny. Samuel and Andy's older girls played with toy airplanes while Granny watched and his girls shared rocks and flowers they found with Granny, but sweet baby Brennan made Granny's visit that day super special. I was holding Brennan and just brought her down to Granny's level and Granny started making faces to her to get her to smile, but the most precious of all was seeing Granny reach out and hold Brennan's hand for a minute. Again, when we left, Samuel gave Granny a kiss on the cheek.
I realize this is a long and detailed description of our visits, but I want Samuel to always have a record of when he visited his 100 year old great-grandmother. Not many people are lucky enough to have such an opportunity and I'll always cherish the moments with her and my extended family. It was amazing to me how much the children brought her back to us, even if the words were few and the moments brief.
