Anyway, we saw Brad's Nana for an hour or so in Grimsby in the middle of some busy running around. We got up to a wonderful breakfast by Brad's cousin Eric (eggs, yummy) and drove to Toronto to see our good friends Dan & Julie (Dan was working, and we couldn't stick around to see him, as you'll discover by reading the rest of this paragraph). Left Julie & Wade & #3 whom we just found out about that day...(yay!! I can say that here, right? There's no one who's going to discover this by reading here that you should have told yourself, right?) and then we drove from TO to Grimsby to see Nana. Dad met us there, and Brad followed him and I to MY Opa & Oma's (more on that later), and then we went to Niagara Falls for the night. It was a LOT of back and forth, but we wanted to see as many people as we could, and ALMOST saw them all (Sorry, Ang & Jer - I missed seeing you guys a lot, thought about driving to Hamilton to watch you ref, but that would have just been TOO much driving & we'd have missed time at Opa & Oma's. NEXT time, I promise). It was important to us to see all the "Greats" this trip. We're going out at Christmas again, but who knows where they'll all be by then.
Speaking of which, Nana. Nana has always been a wonderful loving lady, who liked to have a conversation with anyone possessing an ear to talk off. When she randomly met a man at Tim's, she referred to it as a date -- that's just the kind of lady she is. Well, she still has the gift of the gab, but her mental state is deteriorating. She likes to talk, but a lot of what she said didn't make much sense (the narrative would jump from 1st to 3rd person, and multiple stories would get mashed together -- often comical in their sprawling impossibility). One of the tough things about being far away is that the last time we saw her, she was at Beth & Andy's wedding; although we noticed a few slips (mistaking Brad's dad for his brother), she was still able to take the trip out to Ottawa, and she did alright. The time before that, she was still living on her own, and doing ok (not great, but ok). This time, she was not making a whole lot of sense. She still had enough sense to admire Aria, but she didn't necessarily understand how special it was to meet her third great-grandchild. I think it meant a lot more to us than to her.
When we got there, the lady at the desk asked if Nana was expecting us. I said no, but kind of looked at her like..."And even if we'd told her to...?" We went into her room, and she was glad to have company, but needed us to remind her of who we were. She had the TV on, and when we got there, Brad turned down the volume so we could talk, but she kept getting distracted, and got Brad to show her how to turn the volume back up part way through the visit (I turned it back down, so it wasn't at an interrupting level). At one point a lady on the TV started to smoke, and Nana chastised her for doing so.
We met her teddy bear (she's still wondering when it will grow it's fingers and toes, and how to get it bones, so it can stand up -- it's called "it" because it doesn't have a name that it's willing to tell Nana, although she has asked it repeatedly. She's still waiting for a reply). BUT I was allowed to put it on the floor so that I could sit in a chair - so at least I still had priority over her "baby", besides, it doesn't mind.
Who knows what condition Nana will be in when we see her next. I know it was good to see her now, in this condition, to prepare us for the next visit. She reminds me a lot of my Oma Zanting, who lived in Grimsby and took a similar journey to the one Nana is on. Hers was many years longer though.
We still love Nana, and are very glad we got to see her again, and that she got to meet Aria.
Three Generations - Just missing Grandpa
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