My Mamma
My great-grandma passed away Saturday around 5:15am. I don't think I've fully grasped this yet, or else I have been used to the fact that she won't be around at some point in my life and just haven't realized. I think the second one is true.
My Mamma was my savior when we had all the family together for something...she always had something for me to do or to talk about w/ her, she knew my family makes me nervous and edgy. It didn't matter if she was telling me how many laprobes she had made for 'the old ppl' at the nursing homes or if she was asking about school, she could always distract me from being an ass toward my other relatives.
She was pretty damn spunky too. 102 and still crocheting and sewing and all-around craft-making. She wanted out of the hospital so bad that she checked herself out twice. She went back both times out of the need to be rehydrated after catching cDefColi or something like that while she had been in the hospital the first time. They didn't catch that until a week and a half before she passed away. And my mom is the one who asked about it, saying, "I heard about this disease that's often given to patients in a hospital, might this be what she has now?" And the dr. then agreed, she had caught it two weeks prior and had made her more ill than her heart could take.
We always said, 'See ya later, Alligator' and 'After while, Crocodile.' I was so young when I started making her say that to me as one of us left the other, but we continued it up until the day she passed on. A few months ago, while I was on maternity leave, she called the apartment to tell me that on Wheel of Fortune, the puzzle read, 'See ya later, Alligator.' She thought it was hilarious!
I know she was 102, but I just didn't expect her to pass on before I did. I guess I didn't want to see her go. Brandon and I went to the hospital while we were in Indiana for the Coal City Festival and the first thing she asked was, 'Where's Emma?' She loved that little baby and Brandon wouldn't let me take her for fear of her getting sick b/c 'it's a hospital!' The thing is, my Mamma was in the first room in the wing, and by herself. She wasn't actually sick, she was just old. It doesn't go me any good to make wishes but I just wish Mamma could have seen Emma one more time. The first time Emma really laughed, she was laughing at my Mamma, and the first time she really rolled over, it was at my Mamma's house. My mamma was talking about all the stuff she wanted to make for Emma, a bedspread, a comforter, she just wanted to do what she had been doing for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She got to see her great-great granddaughter though, and who could ask for more than that? Our family is extremely blessed by having Mamma in our lives for so long.
I am going to finish this by telling you about something she did for me a few years back when Lauren ('a great-granddaughter by BLOOD!' -Leealla) was born. Leealla knew that I had a baby cradle that our Aunt Reilly was going to give Leealla if she had any girls, otherwise, it was supposed to be mine. Well, Leealla didn't have any girls, just two boys, Jay and Steve. Well, Steve met Jeannie and they got pregnant w/ Lauren. As soon as Lauren was born, so started the campaign for Reilly's baby cradle. It was at my mom's house, and I had played w/ it when I was little, I still had a doll in it w/ some of the doll blankets that my Mamma had made for me. Well, Leealla was living w/ Mamma at the time and finally one day my Mamma said, 'Fine, just shut up, go take it from Jennifer.' So that's what she did. Not a week later, my Mamma had her nephew Dick Duncan come in and look at the cradle while Leealla was at work. He made a replica and even got the paint to match exactly. My Mamma brought my new baby cradle to the house and said, 'Set this up in your living room where it was before and w/ the same doll and everything. The only difference between the two is that yours is made w/ wood glue and Reilly's is nailed. Let's wait to see when she notices.' So there were some awkward times between then and when she noticed that we had to hide the cradle b/c we were afraid the timing was off and that a scene being made just wouldn't be good but we finally put it out where it used to sit in the living room and Leealla said, 'Where'd you get that?' and my mom said, 'Well, Dick made it for Jennifer.' And Leealla looked at it a bit longer, looked at me and at Mamma and left the room. My Mamma patted my leg and whispered, 'I'm never going to teach her anything but I'm going to have fun trying.' Then she and I laughed. Leealla's been a brat from the get-go but she never said a word about the cradle to any of our family (I'm sure she said something to Jeannie about it but hey, who cares?) and well, Mamma still laughed about it every time she saw it.
Today's the visitation and tomorrow's the funeral. 102 years of life. Countless afgans, quilts, comforts, doilies, potholders, bookmarks, laprobes, clothes...have been made and distributed and lost and reappearing and all by this woman. And I had the privilege to be her great-granddaughter.
My Mamma was my savior when we had all the family together for something...she always had something for me to do or to talk about w/ her, she knew my family makes me nervous and edgy. It didn't matter if she was telling me how many laprobes she had made for 'the old ppl' at the nursing homes or if she was asking about school, she could always distract me from being an ass toward my other relatives.
She was pretty damn spunky too. 102 and still crocheting and sewing and all-around craft-making. She wanted out of the hospital so bad that she checked herself out twice. She went back both times out of the need to be rehydrated after catching cDefColi or something like that while she had been in the hospital the first time. They didn't catch that until a week and a half before she passed away. And my mom is the one who asked about it, saying, "I heard about this disease that's often given to patients in a hospital, might this be what she has now?" And the dr. then agreed, she had caught it two weeks prior and had made her more ill than her heart could take.
We always said, 'See ya later, Alligator' and 'After while, Crocodile.' I was so young when I started making her say that to me as one of us left the other, but we continued it up until the day she passed on. A few months ago, while I was on maternity leave, she called the apartment to tell me that on Wheel of Fortune, the puzzle read, 'See ya later, Alligator.' She thought it was hilarious!
I know she was 102, but I just didn't expect her to pass on before I did. I guess I didn't want to see her go. Brandon and I went to the hospital while we were in Indiana for the Coal City Festival and the first thing she asked was, 'Where's Emma?' She loved that little baby and Brandon wouldn't let me take her for fear of her getting sick b/c 'it's a hospital!' The thing is, my Mamma was in the first room in the wing, and by herself. She wasn't actually sick, she was just old. It doesn't go me any good to make wishes but I just wish Mamma could have seen Emma one more time. The first time Emma really laughed, she was laughing at my Mamma, and the first time she really rolled over, it was at my Mamma's house. My mamma was talking about all the stuff she wanted to make for Emma, a bedspread, a comforter, she just wanted to do what she had been doing for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She got to see her great-great granddaughter though, and who could ask for more than that? Our family is extremely blessed by having Mamma in our lives for so long.
I am going to finish this by telling you about something she did for me a few years back when Lauren ('a great-granddaughter by BLOOD!' -Leealla) was born. Leealla knew that I had a baby cradle that our Aunt Reilly was going to give Leealla if she had any girls, otherwise, it was supposed to be mine. Well, Leealla didn't have any girls, just two boys, Jay and Steve. Well, Steve met Jeannie and they got pregnant w/ Lauren. As soon as Lauren was born, so started the campaign for Reilly's baby cradle. It was at my mom's house, and I had played w/ it when I was little, I still had a doll in it w/ some of the doll blankets that my Mamma had made for me. Well, Leealla was living w/ Mamma at the time and finally one day my Mamma said, 'Fine, just shut up, go take it from Jennifer.' So that's what she did. Not a week later, my Mamma had her nephew Dick Duncan come in and look at the cradle while Leealla was at work. He made a replica and even got the paint to match exactly. My Mamma brought my new baby cradle to the house and said, 'Set this up in your living room where it was before and w/ the same doll and everything. The only difference between the two is that yours is made w/ wood glue and Reilly's is nailed. Let's wait to see when she notices.' So there were some awkward times between then and when she noticed that we had to hide the cradle b/c we were afraid the timing was off and that a scene being made just wouldn't be good but we finally put it out where it used to sit in the living room and Leealla said, 'Where'd you get that?' and my mom said, 'Well, Dick made it for Jennifer.' And Leealla looked at it a bit longer, looked at me and at Mamma and left the room. My Mamma patted my leg and whispered, 'I'm never going to teach her anything but I'm going to have fun trying.' Then she and I laughed. Leealla's been a brat from the get-go but she never said a word about the cradle to any of our family (I'm sure she said something to Jeannie about it but hey, who cares?) and well, Mamma still laughed about it every time she saw it.
Today's the visitation and tomorrow's the funeral. 102 years of life. Countless afgans, quilts, comforts, doilies, potholders, bookmarks, laprobes, clothes...have been made and distributed and lost and reappearing and all by this woman. And I had the privilege to be her great-granddaughter.