all is well....
I just can't let that last entry keep sitting on top like that. So here's the other shoe: all is well.
My aunt Jeanne pulled off yet another miracle and returned home again, feeling "better." Her younger daughter and three-week old grandchild are staying with them, so she still has reasons for hanging on.
My grandpa is all bruised and bandaged up in a rehab center, slowly learning to put weight on his feet again, bearing the driver who hit him no ill-will, and planning to put his bed/wheelchair time to good use. He's been getting piles of flowers, cards, visitors, which he revels in. Notable well-wishers were the Eugene Symphony, which he helped found in the 60s, and the department at the Law School of the University of Oregon where he used to teach. Even people who have bickered with him in recent years about his outspokenness on political issues and his raising difficult questions about history have expressed their concern and hope for speedy recovery.
I'm so proud of that man. The luckiest break I got in this life, as far as I'm concerned, is being a granddaughter of Orval Etter. Emotionally unexpressive, yes, and all those stubborn habits that come with growing up during the Depression years... but he lives his values like few people do, takes an active part in life, and just has a brilliant brilliant mind that even at 89 won't quit.
Oh, he's getting old, alright. His judgment is fading. His social skills are getting edgy (but they probably always were). He does forget to turn off the stove, and needs increasing supervision. But however his residential circumstances may change, his respect in the family and the community remains high. This accident has been a strong reminder of that.
May he live to be 189!
While I'm bragging, some links I found:
2002 Award from Lane County
Article in the Register Guard about his accident
A letter in the Eugene Weekly about my grandfather, written by a fellow activist and UO professor (scroll down, it's at the bottom of the page)
My aunt Jeanne pulled off yet another miracle and returned home again, feeling "better." Her younger daughter and three-week old grandchild are staying with them, so she still has reasons for hanging on.
My grandpa is all bruised and bandaged up in a rehab center, slowly learning to put weight on his feet again, bearing the driver who hit him no ill-will, and planning to put his bed/wheelchair time to good use. He's been getting piles of flowers, cards, visitors, which he revels in. Notable well-wishers were the Eugene Symphony, which he helped found in the 60s, and the department at the Law School of the University of Oregon where he used to teach. Even people who have bickered with him in recent years about his outspokenness on political issues and his raising difficult questions about history have expressed their concern and hope for speedy recovery.
I'm so proud of that man. The luckiest break I got in this life, as far as I'm concerned, is being a granddaughter of Orval Etter. Emotionally unexpressive, yes, and all those stubborn habits that come with growing up during the Depression years... but he lives his values like few people do, takes an active part in life, and just has a brilliant brilliant mind that even at 89 won't quit.
Oh, he's getting old, alright. His judgment is fading. His social skills are getting edgy (but they probably always were). He does forget to turn off the stove, and needs increasing supervision. But however his residential circumstances may change, his respect in the family and the community remains high. This accident has been a strong reminder of that.
May he live to be 189!
While I'm bragging, some links I found:
2002 Award from Lane County
Article in the Register Guard about his accident
A letter in the Eugene Weekly about my grandfather, written by a fellow activist and UO professor (scroll down, it's at the bottom of the page)