Thursday, March 11, 2010

Kiddo and I were out the door at 9:01. I remember looking at the clock as I backed out of the driveway. We made our way to the highway and headed south to Lawton, Oklahoma. The last time Kiddo had been down that turnpike was when he was four days old. On the drive down, the spotty cell phone coverage annoyed me, Kiddo really didn't want to be in the car for an hour and a half, and the construction threw me for a loop when it was time to exit.

When we finally turned onto the road to my grandparent's house, I noted, as usual, how dejected the surrounding homes looked. I pulled into the driveway, not realizing how sad the house looked. Over the past decade, the house has gone from glistening pickets on the surrounding fence, to piles of metal, junk, and this time, a car (pretty much on blocks), just sitting in the driveway.

I pulled Kiddo out of the car and finished my phone conversation before heading to the back door. "Hello?" I called out, but it was quiet. We walked past the master bedroom. Diana Jo was sitting in there, quietly watching TV. She's home-schooled, and had spent a lot of time at Gran and Pop's over the past year. In the kitchen there was a care taker.

After unloading a fussy Kiddo, I fixed a bottle and we headed in to the front room. Pop's back was to me, but Gran saw something going on from a distance, and perked up. They were both sitting in their recliners. As I walked in, I saw a cat sprawled across Pop's lap, upside down. He didn't really say anything, but that's what he's been doing lately. Gran grinned at tired grin, and said "That's my thirteenth great grandchild!" Pride oozed out of her voice. It was about 11:00.

Kiddo and I perched on the edge of one of the two hospital beds that sat in the middle of the living room. I fed him his bottle, and started chatting with her. When he was finished eating, I held him up and he looked around the room, locking eyes on Gran. She said, "Well, he's a big boy!" and started making the dorkiest noises at Kiddo. She wanted to know where Hubs was, and asked how business was, if Kiddo was a good baby. "You need to get a picture of him with Pop," she said.

Uncle Joe walked in, carrying a bag of barbecue. He was there to do payroll. I stayed seated on the bed, but turned my attention to him. When I turned back around to talk to Gran again, she had fallen asleep sitting up. I passed the minutes talking to Pop.

A new nurse arrived, and Gran snapped out of her nap. While the nurse took her vitals, Gran asked her if she wanted to hear a dirty joke--and then proceeded to tell one! She was smart-alec and fiesty. I fed Kiddo and continued to talk to her about what was going on with work, with life. She occasionally would comment to the nurse that she knew her body was failing her, and then we would resume talking about something else.

After the nurse left, I looked at Gran. "How are you really doing?"

She looked at me through narrowed, fatigued eyes. "I'm most frustrated because I'm not mobile."

"You mean, you can't putz around here?" I asked for clarification. She nodded. "You mean, you can't boss Pop around?" She smiled, almost laughed, and nodded.

One of the caretakers brought Gran lunch and set it up in front of her. Pop managed to get to the dining table to eat his lunch. Gran looked at her plate. "She's served me a double portion!" She looked up at the caretaker. "Get me another plate and give some of this to her." She is bossy, bossy, bossy.

"Gran, I am fine!" I exclaimed, and jumped up to go get my own plate before she griped at the caretaker anymore. I sat on the stainless steel, vinyl-upholstered stool and ate my lunch with her, while the caretaker held Kiddo. Before I was finished with lunch, Aunt Judy showed up with a birthday cake for me. She cut slices of it for Gran and Pop.

After Gran was done eating, I asked if she wanted to hold Kiddo, and without hesitation she said yes. He was starting to get fussy at that point--it was past time for him to take a nap. I had no idea how he would react to being held by someone else, but it was worth a try. It all went well. He laid on her patiently, and she was happy to hold him. "Get a picture of him with Pop," she insisted.

Kiddo needed a nap, so I held him and bounced him until he was almost asleep and put in him Pop's arms. There must be something about Pop's arms, because both that cat and Kiddo were thoroughly happy to remain there for extended periods of time. Kiddo dozed happily on him for a good fifteen minutes, and then I had to start gathering him up to get ready to head back to the city.

We walked back over to Gran, and I bent down and she kissed Kiddo on the head. I bent down further and kissed her on the lips. My eyes teared up. If I had counted Granny-kisses over the course of my life, I knew which one that was. Kiddo and I headed over to Pop and kissed him as well. I could only whisper "bye" because of the tears stuck in my throat.

Aunt Judy walked us to the kitchen, then back to the car, and hugged me goodbye.

This morning, my phone rang at 7:00 a.m. The caller ID said it was my mom, and I knew.

Gran used to sit back after Thanksgiving dinner, or on Christmas Eve after we had finished opening presents and look at me and say "I'm safronified. Are you?" Without leaving time for me to respond, she'd ask again, "Do you know what safronified means? It means you are completely satisfied." I tried explaining to Gran once that I had reserved the domain name "safronified.com" to start a blog. I should have just said I decided to write a book and title it Safronified, because I know I lost her at domain name.

Gran, you are now, officially, safronified.