Hospital knitting and other tales

I got a call this past week from my stepdad Tom saying that his mom, my step-grandma Betty, who had been in the hospital with double pneumonia, had taken a turn for the worse.

It's hard for me to talk about Grandma Betty without mentioning how much she rocks. She's in her 80's and she gardens, sews (she made my wedding dress), and cooks. She was a home ec teacher for years and she keeps house like nobody's business. She grew up on a farm, married a farmer, and raised 2 kids on a farm. Even though I'm not blood related, Grandma Betty adopted me in to the family, and she always made me feel welcomed and loved. Will and I were so happy to get to spend Easter with her and Tom this year, especially since her husband of some 60 years died in September.

So yesterday I drove down to Fort Wayne with Will to see Grandma Betty. When she was awake, she was still herself and could connect things and answer questions. She couldn't talk because she had a mask on and it was supplying her with oxygen. But the machine wasn't cutting it and they decided to put her on a ventilator.

My little sister has flown in from Hungary. My stepbrother has come in from Wyoming. Even my mom (who's not actually still married to my stepdad) came in to say her goodbyes. I'm not sure if the vent is going to make things better or not (actually, I'm pretty realistically thinking it's not. Once you're on a vent, it's hard to be weaned off of it), but everyone is getting to say goodbye.

I'm so lucky that I was able to be there to sing for Grandma Betty, to pray with her and her family, and to support Tom and his sister. I'm so grateful to be able to do that.

I knit on some Dulaan knitting while at the hospital.

Today, I went up to Ann Arbor and then bought plants for the garden. I put in some lemon thyme, Italian parsley, basil, oregano, and planted seeds for purslane, beets, zucchini, cucumber, and marigolds.

And I'm making a very late dinner of eggplant curry.