Often, on the way to Michigan, we will stay with my Great Aunt Jean. She is my Grandfather Lawson's younger sister. She is such a sweetie. She ALWAYS insists on cooking something for us whenever we visit, regardless of the time we arrive.
Before heading up to Michigan, we learned that she was in the hospital that week, due to a fracture in her spine. She had fallen earlier last year and broke her pelvis and shoulder and seemed to have recouperated well from that particular fall. We were sad to learn she had recently fractured her spine.
She was in the bathroom when she fell, she said. Her neighbor's wife was able to help her as the ambulance arrived. She got out of the hospital the day before we were heading up to Michigan. I told her that we would like to visit her wherever she might be, but that we didn't want to spend the night at her house. She INSISTED we stay with her. I felt horrible, but also knew that she would probably like to see us. She wanted to stay semi-active, to keep pneumonia at bay (she had a cough), and wore a brace around her torso for support. She is fortunate to have a very nice neighbor named Robert who really watches after her. She calls him "the boy", even though he is well into his 70's. :) While she was recouping at her sister-in-law's house from the pelvic fracture, Robert put a wooden ramp onto the back porch of her house. Talk about timing. I don't know how she would get up the steps to her house now, without this ramp!
We spend the night, arriving late in the evening due to bad traffic. It was actually a good thing, I think. (She still had a blueberry cheesecake waiting for us when we arrived.) We were able to visit with her for a little bit before the kids were extremely tired. We retired to our beds for the night. She woke us up early with a knock on our door, as we said we wanted to get on the road early. We were going to celebrate Christmas with my Mom and sister later that night, after driving the remaining miles to Michigan.
We took these pictures before we headed out in the morning. I wanted to show my Grandmother that Aunt Jean appeared to be doing well. About three days after we left, her neighbor insisted (for the fourth time in the few days after we left) that she go to the E.R. due to a bad cough. She finally agreed. It turned out she had pneumonia, after all.
She is one strong lady, let me tell you. She has lived on a farm for most of her life. She recently sold the farm across the street, which had been in her husband's family for generations. She has a dog (Snowball) and a cat (Daisy) and LIVES for her babies (her animals). She and her husband never had any children (she had a stillborn baby, unfortunately, back in the late 60's), so her animals are her life. She LOVES to see Ava and Liam. Ava called her "Grammy Jean" at one point, which I think really tickled her. When we told Grammy Jean what Ava called her, she said in her sweet matter-of-fact Southern voice "Well, you just go ahead and call me that, then." :)
I love visiting her and hearing stories about my Grandfather. She looked up to him and he took care of her, as well. While we were there, she gave me one of his Navy award ribbons. They were worn as an abbreviated version of a medal, I believe, so you wouldn't have to always wear all of the medals on your uniform. I will be curious to see which medal this ribbon might represent. I contacted the U.S. Navy Awards Office in hopes of getting a list of his awards.
The kids seem to hang the moon for her. This picture was taken bright and early.
I'm surprised the kids' eyes were open for it. :)
Grandfather's World War II U.S. Navy ribbon. He originally gave it to Aunt Jean years ago. She then gave it to us this Christmas. How special! She says she remembers watching him "go around the bend" when he left for the Navy. The bus ticket he used to join the Navy can be found in the scrapbook he kept.
Aunt Jean says she was so sad when he left. He is her only full-blood sibling. He was 17 when he went into the Navy, so she would've been 15. He chose the Navy (instead of being drafted) as the Navy was known to have more service members who returned to the United States alive. He knew that if he was drafted, he probably wouldn't have a choice in where he served, and may end up in the Army. I believe my Uncle Danny (Grandfather's only son) has Grandfather's service medals. I told Aunt Jean that it probably would be best to give this ribbon to Uncle Danny, so all of Grandfather's medals are in one place.
Aunt Jean was discharged from the hospital and continues to get better. We're SO thankful for her health and pray she is only gets more healthy with each day!
Peace, love and Christmas ribbons,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
No comments:
Post a Comment