The Joys Of Being Granddaughter

I have to preface this by saying that my grandmother and I have always had a "difficult" relationship. You know those grandmothers that adore all of their grandchildren equally, and love them all unconditionally? Yeah, that's not my grandmother...

Got a very panicked phone call from my brother on Wen. Apparently my 90y/o grandmother had a dizzy spell, and one of her ever so helpful girlfriends from the senior apartments (or as I call it, the hen yard) called him saying she thought Gram had a stroke. That's right, instead of calling an ambulance, or getting a nurse from the nursing home that's attached to the complex, she calls my brother, who, being a medical layperson, PANICS!, and calls me. So, I ask hubby to watch the kids, jump in my car, and drive 20 min over to Grams, to find her sitting like a queen in her living room/kitchen (she calls it "the parlor"), holding court over her concerned subjects (Grams always been a bit of a drama queen). I take her vitals, do neuro. checks, she's fine. Ask what happened, she said "I got dizzy and had to sit down on the floor, that's when Nell came over for tea." OK, fair enough, she has fallen a couple of times. Then I realize, it's so HOT in her apartment I can barely breath. I check the thermostat, it's set at 85 degrees (it's 90 degrees outside)! I turn on the AC, and shoo the hens out of the living room, and back to their own (probably overheated) coops. I look at her mouth, her lips are dry, her skin looks parched, and I ask, Gram, how much have you drank today? "Oh, I had some juice this morning". I look in the sink, and there's a juice cup the size of a shot glass in there. I'm explaining to her that she has to drink more, because it's hot out, when her door opens, and it' s her friend Jane These two ladies then proceed to take 8 sentences and turn them into a 45 min conversation. It went something like this:

Gram - Jane, this is my granddaughter Peg
Jane - Pam?
Me - Peg
Jane - Pat?
Me - Peggie
Jane - Oh, Peggie, nice to meet you how old are you?
Me - I'm 41
Gram - She's my oldest grandchild
Jane - Well, I had 9 children, their names are (blah, blah, blah...)
Gram - 9 children? My goodness, I could barely cope with 2. I have 6 grandchildren, Peg here is the oldest
Jane - Nice to meet you Pam, how old are you?
Me - I'm Peg
Jane - Pat?
Me - No, Peggie. I'm 41.
Jane - Oh, Peggie. Well you're about the same age as my youngest daughter. I had 9 children, their names are (blah, blah, blah...)
Gram - My goodness, my 2 boys were enough for me! Peg here is my youngest sons daughter, and my oldest granddaughter
Jane - How old are you Pat?
Me - (sigh) I'm 41
Jane - Well I have 9 children, their names are (blah blah blah...)

You can see where this is going.

FINALLY Jane left to take her afternoon nap. I popped Gram in the car, took her to Sonic to get a chocolate shake, and got her back home just in time for her dinner to arrive. Made sure she ate, called my Dad to let him know Gram was ok (he and Mom were on the way back from the beach), and headed home to my brood. Dad and I agreed, we need to get a home care aid in a few days a week to keep an eye on her, so until we get that set up we'll go over every day and check on her.

What Bliss.