Tuesday = Grandma Day

Tuesday is one of my favourite days of the week. Why? Because I spend every Tuesday with my 87 year old Grandma (88 on 25th May).

Grandad died 17 years ago after waiting for the news his first great grandchild (my niece) had been born safely. I truly believe he was waiting for the news (barely conscious & his face lit up in a huge smile) before letting go. He died 3 days after her birth. I am also a believer (blindly, I 'm sure some would say) that nothing is going to happen to my kids because he is watching over them & keeping them safe. He doted on us as grandkids so I can imagine his absolute pride for his great-grandkids.

So Grandma lives on her own in the next suburb from me. She wasn't comfortable driving so handed in her licence last year (maybe the year before, time goes so fast) and sold her little car to someone who absolutely adores it. So she is now reliant on others to get her to appointments, the library, shopping and social outings. My mum was taking her but it became too much for her - Mum is 65 with a 75 year old husband and they have had their own health to take care of. Plus Mum can't handle crowds & you know what shopping centres are like! So I offered to take Grandma one day a week to where she needs to go, whilst I am not working a day job. One day a week still allows me to take care of my own family committments and work my night job. So we chose Tuesdays as the shops are not as busy, some shops have seniors discounts on Tuesdays, we can always get a disabled parking space (she is a valid ticket holder) and the club has a cheap (but delicious) lunch on Tuesdays!

So off we trot, after I drop the boys at school every week. Grandma, wheely walker, Megan (2 year old ball of energy) and I. Sometimes we hang around her place until lunchtime & then hit the club for lunch. Warilla Bowling Club is her favourite. As soon as we reach the carpark, Megan pipes up with "yay, chippies!" - yes she has chippies for lunch every Tuesday. Every week when Grandma opens her front door to us I ask "How are you?" (as you do) and she always answers "Oh, very slow today". My respose to that? "Well, you are up & going out - that's the main thing - the speed doesn't matter." We do use up all our available hours (sometimes I am late picking up the boys from school) - it takes 2 hours to get through Woollies & she buys at the most 30 items - the poor love can barely walk. I walk really slowly (slower than a bride down the aisle - you know left, together, right, together) and I need to stop every 10 steps to let her catch up. The funny bit is that when she sees me stop, she stops too! She doesn't realise that it's for her to catch up!

Combine this with Megan who is climbing in & out of the trolley, helping me to push it, being reminded not to squash Grandma's shopping, asking me for something to eat or drink from my bag, holding my hand or today, asking me to pick her up and by golly we must be a sight to see!

But you know what, this is just ONE of the many things that makes our Tuesday = Grandma day extra special. My Grandma a special breed, she is gorgeous, funny, lovable, stubborn, helpful, opinionated, dependant, independant, cuddly, kind, set in her ways, pommy, well loved & has an AWESOME relationship with Megan. Goodness knows how I will explain it to Megan once she's gone. I always told Grandma she wasn't leaving us before she's 100 so she gets her telegram from the Queen, however I haven't said that for a while because now I'm not so sure she will last that long. Her mind is playing tricks on her now, most likely the beginnings of dementia. I can understand how the elderly barricade themselves into their homes....I see it happen with her.

Anyway, didn't want to end on a sad note. My main reason for posting was to get some thoughts / rambles down and to tell you that I love Tuesday = Grandma day because I LOVE MY GRANDMA!!

xx