Rescued from Bingo

Well, we got to Hebert's a little later than usual. By the time I had signed into the "Guest book", Grampa had already located Nana in the activities room, and had gotten himself a chair right next to her. When I walked in, and put my arms around Nana.......she said, "Oh good, you're here! Get me out of here!" So, laughingly I said, "What, you don't want to play Bingo today?" "No, absolutely not!", she said. So, as I was pushing her down the hallway, in her wheelchair, she said, "Oh boy, am I glad to see you guys! I've been rescued!" When I said to her, "Would you like to go sit in your comfortable blue recliner?" she answered, "That sounds wonderful!" And so it was, that the little group limped and rolled into room 83 and spent the next 90 minutes chatting and trying to keep Nana awake, if for no other reason than she would have one heck of a good nap when we left! She was happy today, and comfortable.

When it was time to leave, I went through all of the daily rituals.......checking to be sure her drinking water was within reach.....klenex...the TV on the Ellen Degeneres show...alarms hooked up to alert the nurses if Nana attempts to get out of the chair alone....etc. When I kissed her, she said "Where are you going?" My every day answer is, "Oh, I have to drive Dad home, so he can take HIS nap." She always smiles and says that's a good idea. But today, she said, "Do I stay here?" That's always a tough one, and I ALWAYS have to fight back the tears. I've learned if I bite on my bottom lip really fast and hard, it stops any tears (for the moment) so I can spit out "Yes, this is where you sleep, but we'll be back tomorrow to visit again." So, she smiles, we wave and it's back in the car for the ride home.

Nana's room mate has "the bug" and so lets all hope that Nana doesn't catch it. Irene was in bed for the day, and the two women don't cross paths often, so just keep your fingers crossed. I'm still surprised that Nana didn't catch my cold, or Grampa's cold. She's still a tough little Irish woman!