James is on vacation this weekend with his folks visiting family in Illinois and Wisconsin. We haven't been able to visit his family as much as we would like, even when we were closer and lived in Indy so he likes to go when he can. I think he really went to see how his Grandma is doing. The last time I saw her was around Christmastime and her health had declined sharply. God love her, she has been through a lot in her life. She has outlived 2 husbands and more recently has battled breast cancer. She also has other health issue like dementia and breathing problems which have become more pronounced in the last year or so. She is a Florida snowbird and usually stays with James' Aunt Sue during the warmer months in Wisconsin and then comes back to Florida around Labor Day and splits her time between my in-laws and James' other aunt outside of Tampa. James saw her today and he's pretty sure that she won't be coming back down this year and he isn't sure that she will be with us after the new year.
I feel so bad for him because he is so attached to his family. Or his immediate family I should say. When his Uncle George passed away 4 years ago, he was devastated. He still doesn't like to talk about it. He went to the cemetery today visit his gravestone and that is when he said that he doesn't think she'll be here very much longer. He went to visit her in the nursing home she is in and was very bothered by it. I guess at this point, its too hard to deal with her care so that is the decision the sisters made. I wish I could be with him up there but it just wasn't possible with the kids going back to school this week.
So I told him that all we can do is pray for her and her health and that she doesn't suffer while she is here on earth. He said that she has gotten so frail in the past several months, he could probably pick her up with one arm. He told me he doesn't want to take any pictures of her like that but I told him that he should to have them.
While its a sad situation, I can only hope that what ever pain and discomfort she is feeling is brief and fleeting. She is a woman of faith so I'm sure she will be in a better place when her time comes.
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