The end has come
For the past few weeks, grandma has declined rapidly..she became too weak to stand and forgetful. She's now under the care of hospice. Aunt Cindy is there right now, and either her or Julie called mom this morning saying that hospice told her to call family right away. She's so weak now she can barely speak. No one knows how long she has (hours? A few days?), but hospice wanted to make sure everyone was able to see her before she died. Mom and I are leaving tonight..Ryan has been in San Francisco with Jo and they were supposed to fly back home today, but Ryan's now just flying straight to Kansas City. I'm glad I've been able to see her these past few years since she moved back to the States. She's gone through a lot, but now her body's exhausted. We've been expecting this, but it's still sad. Weirdly enough, she wants to be buried at the graveyard I went to earlier in the year, where the sycamore trees sent me an image of their roots cradling the dead, protecting them. She'll be safe there! I hope she'll be able to recognize everyone when we get there tomorrow, and that it won't be too late (I did read somewhere that hearing is the last sense to go before you die, so even if she can't respond, hopefully she can still hear us, so we can say "I love you" and things like that). It'll definitely be hard watching her "actively dying" (what hospice calls it), but hopefully it'll be peacefully in her sleep. We're not sure how long we're going to be visiting, but work understands. I'm glad she'll be surrounded by family in her last days (it's supposed to be in the 90s and 100s in Topeka this week..ugh D:)
24. Do You Want to Live to 100? If I'm healthy and not in pain and stuff
25. How Good Is Your Sense of Direction? It can be good, if I pay attention enough. I'm terrible at giving directions though lol
August
1. What Do You Gain From Pursuing Something You Do Really, Really Badly?
2. What Would You Be Willing to Wait in a Really Long Line For?
3. Do You Wish You Could Return to Moments From Your Past?
4. What Pranks, Jokes, Hoaxes or Tricks Have You Ever Fallen For or Perpetrated?
5. What Are Your Personal Superstitions?
6. Do You Spend Enough Time With Other People?
7. How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?
8. How Much Time Do You Spend in Nature?
9. What Are Your Favorite TV Shows?
10. When Have You Ever Succeeded When You Thought You Might Fail?
11. How Productive and Organized Are You?
12. How Do You Deal With Boredom?
13. Should Couples Live Together Before Marriage?
14. What Assumptions Do People Make About You?
15. Can Money Buy You Happiness?
16. What’s Your Favorite Candy?
17. How Do You React When Provoked?
18. What is Your Favorite Place in Your House?
19. What’s the Best Way to Heal a Broken Heart?
20. Are You a Hoarder or a Minimalist?
21. What Would You Outsource if You Could?
22. What Fantasy Invention Would You Want to Exist in Reality?
23. What Old, Worn Out Thing Can You Just Not Part With?
24. Do You Want to Live to 100?
25. How Good Is Your Sense of Direction?
26. Do You Write in Cursive?
27. What Are Your Earliest Memories of Music?
28. What Would You Grab in a Fire?
29. Do You Have Any Tattoos? If Not, Would You Ever Consider Getting a Tattoo?
30. Does Buying and Accumulating More and More Stuff Make Us Happier?
31. When Do You Become an Adult?
September
1. How Often Does Your Family Eat Together?
2. Is ‘Be Yourself’ Bad Advice?
3. What’s Your Comfort Food?
4. How Good a Friend Are You?
5. Do You Think You’ve Forged Your Lifelong Taste in Music?
6. How Well Do You Take Criticism?
7. What City or Town Most Captures Your Imagination?
8. Is It Possible to Start Out Poor in Your Country, Work Hard and Become Well-Off?
9. What Food Would You Like to Judge in a Taste-Off?
10. Has Anyone Ever Said That You Look Like Someone Famous? Do You Resemble Your Parents?
11. What Are Some Recent Moments of Happiness in Your Life?
12. Do You Pay Attention to Nutrition Labels on Food?
13. Are You a Saver or a Tosser?
14. Does What You Wear Say Anything About You as a Person?
15. What Are You Good At?
16. How Closely Do You Listen to Lyrics?
17. Do You Root For Any Sports Teams?
18. What Era Do You Wish You Had Lived In?
19. How Do You Cope With Grief?
20. What Are You Listening To?
21. How Impulsive Are You?
22. What Was Your Favourite Fairy Tale or Nursery Rhyme?
23. What Is Your Fantasy Vacation?
24. How Much Do You Curse?
25. What Buildings Do You Love? What Buildings Do You Hate?
26. Given Unlimited Resources, What Scientific or Medical Problem Would You Investigate?
27. Have You Ever Felt Pressured to Betray Your Beliefs?
28. What Famous Landmarks Have You Visited?
29. What Are Your Healthy Habits?
30. Tell Me Three Good Things That Happened This Week
October
1. What Rites of Passage Have You Participated In?
2. Will Humans Live on Mars In Our Lifetime?
3. Do/Did You Ever Hang Out at the Mall?
4. Do You Unknowingly Submit to Peer Pressure?
5. Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?
6. What Public Behavior Annoys You Most?
7. What Superpower Do You Wish You Had?
8. What’s Special About Your Hometown?
9. How Materialistic Are You?
10. Should the Private Lives of Famous People Be Off Limits?
11. What Are Your Opinions on Cosmetic Surgery?
12. What Habits Do You Have, and Have You Ever Tried to Change Them?
13. Does Keeping a Messy Desk Make People More Creative?
14. Does Reading a Book Count More Than Listening to One?
15. Are You a Novelty-Seeker?
16. How Strong Is Your Sense of Smell?
17. Are There Topics That Should Be Off Limits to Comedy?
18. What Animal Are You Most Like?
19. What Magazines Do You Read, and How Do You Read Them?
20. Would You Like to Live in Another Country?
21. What’s the Coolest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in a Museum?
22. Are You a Good Listener?
23. Do We Still Need Libraries?
24. How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday?
25. When Have You Failed? What Did You Learn From It?
26. What Activities Make You Feel Most Alive?
27. Where, and How, Do You Watch Movies?
28. What Is Your Favorite Street?
29. When Do You Remember Learning a New Word?
30. Is Amazon Becoming Too Powerful?
31. Will You Be Wearing a Halloween Costume This Year?
November
1. Are You Hard or Easy on Yourself?
2. What Teacher Would You Like to Thank?
3. What Health Tips Have Worked for You?
4. How Do Male and Female Roles Differ in Your Family?
5. What Are Your Longtime Interests or Passions?
6. Do You Have a Hard Time Making Decisions?
7. Were You Ever the ‘New Kid’?
8. How Much Freedom Did Your Parents Give You?
9. What Motivates You?
10. Have You Ever Posted, Emailed or Texted Something You Wish You Could Take Back?
11. What Challenges Have You Overcome?
12. What Do You Wish You Could See, Hear, Read or Experience for the First Time All Over Again?
13. Would You Quit if Your Values Did Not Match Your Employer’s?
14. Are You More Or Less Religious Than Your Parents?
15. Do You Recognize Yourself in Descriptions of ‘Generation Z’?
16. Do Machines Represent a Threat to Humans?
17. What Good Can Come from Disagreements?
18. Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood?
19. What’s the Most Memorable Thing You Ever Got in the Mail?
20. How Did You Learn About Sex?
21. How Often Do You Interact With People of Another Race or Ethnicity?
22. Do You Suffer From Anxiety?
23. What Are Your Thanksgiving Traditions?
24. Will Your Family Members Disagree With Each Other About Politics This Thanksgiving?
25. What Do You Look Forward to Most - and Least - During the Holiday Season?
26. What Does Santa Claus Mean to You?
27. What Is Your Most Prized Possession?
28. What Are You Grateful For?
29. Did You Take Part in Any Post-Thanksgiving Shopping?
30. Under What Conditions Do You Do Your Best Work?
December
1. How Often Do You Leave Your ‘Comfort Zone’?
2. With Whom Would You Share Your Passwords? How About Your Debit Card and PIN?
3. What Would You Do if You Won the Lottery?
4. When in Your Life Have You Been a Leader?
5. How Should You Handle the End of a Friendship?
6. What’s the Best Advice You’ve Gotten?
7. What Is Your All-Time Favorite Piece of Clothing?
8. What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note Of Today?
9. How Should Parents Discipline Their Kids?
10. How Do You Get Your Nature Fix?
11. When Should You Compromise?
12. How Important Is Keeping a Clean House?
13. Does Stress Affect Your Ability to Make Good Decisions?
14. What’s the Best Gift You’ve Ever Given or Received?
15. What Annoys You?
16. If the World Was Ending, What Would You Want to Do?
17. What Role Does Procrastination Play in Your Life?
18. Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About a Hot-Button Issue?
19. What Are the Best Things You’ve Watched, Read, Heard or Played This Year?
20. Was There a Toy You Wanted as a Child but Never Got?
21. Have You Ever Given, or Received, a Perfect Gift?
22. When Is the Last Time You Did Something Nice for a Stranger?
23. Do You Ever Eavesdrop?
24. What Things Did You Create When You Were a Child?
25. What Are the Best Things in Life and Are They Free?
26. How Stoic Are You?
27. As A Child/Teen - Where Did You Think You Would Live When You Were an Adult?
28. What Role Will Robots Play in Our Future?
29. If You Had Siblings - Did Your Parents Treat You Differently? If Not, Did You Wish You Had Siblings?
30. Do You Look Forward to New Year’s Eve?
31. Do You Make New Year’s Resolutions?
24. Do You Want to Live to 100? If I'm healthy and not in pain and stuff
25. How Good Is Your Sense of Direction? It can be good, if I pay attention enough. I'm terrible at giving directions though lol
August
1. What Do You Gain From Pursuing Something You Do Really, Really Badly?
2. What Would You Be Willing to Wait in a Really Long Line For?
3. Do You Wish You Could Return to Moments From Your Past?
4. What Pranks, Jokes, Hoaxes or Tricks Have You Ever Fallen For or Perpetrated?
5. What Are Your Personal Superstitions?
6. Do You Spend Enough Time With Other People?
7. How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?
8. How Much Time Do You Spend in Nature?
9. What Are Your Favorite TV Shows?
10. When Have You Ever Succeeded When You Thought You Might Fail?
11. How Productive and Organized Are You?
12. How Do You Deal With Boredom?
13. Should Couples Live Together Before Marriage?
14. What Assumptions Do People Make About You?
15. Can Money Buy You Happiness?
16. What’s Your Favorite Candy?
17. How Do You React When Provoked?
18. What is Your Favorite Place in Your House?
19. What’s the Best Way to Heal a Broken Heart?
20. Are You a Hoarder or a Minimalist?
21. What Would You Outsource if You Could?
22. What Fantasy Invention Would You Want to Exist in Reality?
23. What Old, Worn Out Thing Can You Just Not Part With?
24. Do You Want to Live to 100?
25. How Good Is Your Sense of Direction?
26. Do You Write in Cursive?
27. What Are Your Earliest Memories of Music?
28. What Would You Grab in a Fire?
29. Do You Have Any Tattoos? If Not, Would You Ever Consider Getting a Tattoo?
30. Does Buying and Accumulating More and More Stuff Make Us Happier?
31. When Do You Become an Adult?
September
1. How Often Does Your Family Eat Together?
2. Is ‘Be Yourself’ Bad Advice?
3. What’s Your Comfort Food?
4. How Good a Friend Are You?
5. Do You Think You’ve Forged Your Lifelong Taste in Music?
6. How Well Do You Take Criticism?
7. What City or Town Most Captures Your Imagination?
8. Is It Possible to Start Out Poor in Your Country, Work Hard and Become Well-Off?
9. What Food Would You Like to Judge in a Taste-Off?
10. Has Anyone Ever Said That You Look Like Someone Famous? Do You Resemble Your Parents?
11. What Are Some Recent Moments of Happiness in Your Life?
12. Do You Pay Attention to Nutrition Labels on Food?
13. Are You a Saver or a Tosser?
14. Does What You Wear Say Anything About You as a Person?
15. What Are You Good At?
16. How Closely Do You Listen to Lyrics?
17. Do You Root For Any Sports Teams?
18. What Era Do You Wish You Had Lived In?
19. How Do You Cope With Grief?
20. What Are You Listening To?
21. How Impulsive Are You?
22. What Was Your Favourite Fairy Tale or Nursery Rhyme?
23. What Is Your Fantasy Vacation?
24. How Much Do You Curse?
25. What Buildings Do You Love? What Buildings Do You Hate?
26. Given Unlimited Resources, What Scientific or Medical Problem Would You Investigate?
27. Have You Ever Felt Pressured to Betray Your Beliefs?
28. What Famous Landmarks Have You Visited?
29. What Are Your Healthy Habits?
30. Tell Me Three Good Things That Happened This Week
October
1. What Rites of Passage Have You Participated In?
2. Will Humans Live on Mars In Our Lifetime?
3. Do/Did You Ever Hang Out at the Mall?
4. Do You Unknowingly Submit to Peer Pressure?
5. Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?
6. What Public Behavior Annoys You Most?
7. What Superpower Do You Wish You Had?
8. What’s Special About Your Hometown?
9. How Materialistic Are You?
10. Should the Private Lives of Famous People Be Off Limits?
11. What Are Your Opinions on Cosmetic Surgery?
12. What Habits Do You Have, and Have You Ever Tried to Change Them?
13. Does Keeping a Messy Desk Make People More Creative?
14. Does Reading a Book Count More Than Listening to One?
15. Are You a Novelty-Seeker?
16. How Strong Is Your Sense of Smell?
17. Are There Topics That Should Be Off Limits to Comedy?
18. What Animal Are You Most Like?
19. What Magazines Do You Read, and How Do You Read Them?
20. Would You Like to Live in Another Country?
21. What’s the Coolest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in a Museum?
22. Are You a Good Listener?
23. Do We Still Need Libraries?
24. How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday?
25. When Have You Failed? What Did You Learn From It?
26. What Activities Make You Feel Most Alive?
27. Where, and How, Do You Watch Movies?
28. What Is Your Favorite Street?
29. When Do You Remember Learning a New Word?
30. Is Amazon Becoming Too Powerful?
31. Will You Be Wearing a Halloween Costume This Year?
November
1. Are You Hard or Easy on Yourself?
2. What Teacher Would You Like to Thank?
3. What Health Tips Have Worked for You?
4. How Do Male and Female Roles Differ in Your Family?
5. What Are Your Longtime Interests or Passions?
6. Do You Have a Hard Time Making Decisions?
7. Were You Ever the ‘New Kid’?
8. How Much Freedom Did Your Parents Give You?
9. What Motivates You?
10. Have You Ever Posted, Emailed or Texted Something You Wish You Could Take Back?
11. What Challenges Have You Overcome?
12. What Do You Wish You Could See, Hear, Read or Experience for the First Time All Over Again?
13. Would You Quit if Your Values Did Not Match Your Employer’s?
14. Are You More Or Less Religious Than Your Parents?
15. Do You Recognize Yourself in Descriptions of ‘Generation Z’?
16. Do Machines Represent a Threat to Humans?
17. What Good Can Come from Disagreements?
18. Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood?
19. What’s the Most Memorable Thing You Ever Got in the Mail?
20. How Did You Learn About Sex?
21. How Often Do You Interact With People of Another Race or Ethnicity?
22. Do You Suffer From Anxiety?
23. What Are Your Thanksgiving Traditions?
24. Will Your Family Members Disagree With Each Other About Politics This Thanksgiving?
25. What Do You Look Forward to Most - and Least - During the Holiday Season?
26. What Does Santa Claus Mean to You?
27. What Is Your Most Prized Possession?
28. What Are You Grateful For?
29. Did You Take Part in Any Post-Thanksgiving Shopping?
30. Under What Conditions Do You Do Your Best Work?
December
1. How Often Do You Leave Your ‘Comfort Zone’?
2. With Whom Would You Share Your Passwords? How About Your Debit Card and PIN?
3. What Would You Do if You Won the Lottery?
4. When in Your Life Have You Been a Leader?
5. How Should You Handle the End of a Friendship?
6. What’s the Best Advice You’ve Gotten?
7. What Is Your All-Time Favorite Piece of Clothing?
8. What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note Of Today?
9. How Should Parents Discipline Their Kids?
10. How Do You Get Your Nature Fix?
11. When Should You Compromise?
12. How Important Is Keeping a Clean House?
13. Does Stress Affect Your Ability to Make Good Decisions?
14. What’s the Best Gift You’ve Ever Given or Received?
15. What Annoys You?
16. If the World Was Ending, What Would You Want to Do?
17. What Role Does Procrastination Play in Your Life?
18. Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About a Hot-Button Issue?
19. What Are the Best Things You’ve Watched, Read, Heard or Played This Year?
20. Was There a Toy You Wanted as a Child but Never Got?
21. Have You Ever Given, or Received, a Perfect Gift?
22. When Is the Last Time You Did Something Nice for a Stranger?
23. Do You Ever Eavesdrop?
24. What Things Did You Create When You Were a Child?
25. What Are the Best Things in Life and Are They Free?
26. How Stoic Are You?
27. As A Child/Teen - Where Did You Think You Would Live When You Were an Adult?
28. What Role Will Robots Play in Our Future?
29. If You Had Siblings - Did Your Parents Treat You Differently? If Not, Did You Wish You Had Siblings?
30. Do You Look Forward to New Year’s Eve?
31. Do You Make New Year’s Resolutions?