004: I Have Always Loved You

Anna Evelyn: Yesterday was a better day for grandma. She walked more with her walker (she is no quitter), she drank more Ensure (we have to supplement the fact that she isn't eating much), she seemed more focused with us and, what I am most happy about, she started reading again. She was in the middle of a novel and started reading it again. 


She has started coughing so we are giving her cough syrup (which she hates but we use Ensure as a chaser to we get more of it in her :-) But other than the cough she is slowly but surely improving.


After dinner, my mom, my niece Rachel and I got grandma ready for bed. We tucked her in then Rachel and I got in bed with her to cuddle then the pups jumped in (my Maltese and my mom's Schnauzer). Grandma was smiling widely. My mom was laughing from a chair near her bed. Then my bother C came to say good night and we all kissed her and promised we'd take the ruckus out and let her rest. It was about 9:30pm. 


Mom looked much better today too. As the care giver, she has a lot to deal with but today we were all happy for the "good" day. We are taking everything one moment at a time and feel blessed that things are improving. As the days pass I also feel so lucky to be part of this family. I am proud of my niece for being such a compassionate and loving teenager, for my brothers (I have two, one lives here and the other in DC) that are open to giving their love and tenderness and of course to my mom who raised us all with an infinite amount of unconditional love. Yesterday was a good day indeed...


Seeing that all was quiet and good, I got ready to leave but snuck back into grandma's room to say, "buenas noches, que sueñes con los angelitos" - "good night, sleep with the angels" (she used to say that to us when we would go to sleep, even as an adults). To my surprise she was awake. I got real close and said my good night and that I love her. Grandma turned her head to me and said, "Yo te he amado siempre" - "I have always loved you".  My heart melted and I felt blessed for the moment.