Family.
I had a lot to think about last week, and came to the discovery that I’d love to start a little “Making Time For…” series on the blog.
If you didn’t know, my grandmother has dementia, and Thursday night I called her to say “Happy Birthday”. I love my grandmother but I hate calling her. I know that sounds horrible, but let me tell you why- 1) she forgets that I don’t speak much Spanish so half the conversation I don’t understand her and 2) I really don’t know what to talk about with her. Anyway, I called her… and she’d forgotten about me.
My Grammy Girl lives 8 hours away from me, so it’s really hard to visit. She also goes in and out with her memory. Her dementia isn’t bad (yet) but it’s only a matter of time. Knowing she’d momentarily forgotten about me had me so heartbroken that I cried for an hour and a half to my mom even though I knew it wasn’t my grandma’s fault.
It got me thinking- I need to make more time for my family. Time on Earth is PRECIOUS and I don’t even know silly things about my grandmother that I always wanted to know– What is her favorite color? What was her first job? What was her childhood home like?
Not only that, but I realized I hadn’t seen my dad and brother since Christmas, my mom and sister since early March, and I haven’t seen my older sister since BEFORE Christmas when we went skiing. I had a Facebook chat conversation with my older sister, Arlene, and she told me I need to make more time for my family.
I realized God was sending me a message- GO VISIT THE FAMILY. So that’s just what I did. And all this crazy ensued..


I had SO much fun visiting my family. We did SO much- hanging out on the sailboat, eating Marble Slab, shopping at World Market, going on the Lexington, and just generally having a good time. Mathew and I decided that we want to try and visit at least once a month. It’s time to make time for my family.
I could go into tons of detail about why I think that this post is wonderful, and how much I can relate to it. I’ll make it short and sweet: Thank YOU!
Dementia is such a sad disease. I work w/ patients every day who have dementia. I try to help the families cope w/ “losing” their loved one even though their body is still here. I think it is great that you made a trip to see your family this weekend. Sometimes that is hard to do (especially w/ distance) but it really is important! Thinking of you and sorry your grandmother didn’t remember you!
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What a great post idea! I love it! And it looks like you guys had a blast!
Carly
http://www.lipglossandcrayons.com
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Beautiful! Family are so important.. Such a lovely post 🙂
You are so right about this. When you live out of town, it is easy to get complacent with phone calls, texts, face time, etc., but it doesn’t substitute for actually visiting!
My grandfather had dementia and it was really hard to go and visit him. He was in nursing home in the dementia unit and while he was still pretty functional, many others were not. It was just so sad to go and see him and see all the people who were suffering so bad and didn’t have family, friends, etc. visiting. It was REALLY hard when he didn’t remember us too. He passed in 2010 and I know he is in a better place and luckily, what I remember about him are the memories we had and all the fun times, not the last few years when he didn’t always remember us or wasn’t fully lucid. All this to say I understand, and it is hard, and to not be so hard on yourself. We all deal with things in different ways.
The story about your grandma broke my heart. My grandpa had dementia and it was heartbreaking to watch him slowly forget. I’m thankful that he never did forget who I was, but we also lived close by at the time. We just moved SO far away from family and while I miss them, it’s not been too bad yet. And, they’ve all got plans to visit.. my mom is even coming this week and I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to see her in my life! Glad you got in a good visit. Looks like fun!
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my grandma didn’t necessarily forget me but she got confused over who was who and would think my daughter was me at times. it was very sad.
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This is an awesome response to your sadness the other night! Being intentional about family and visits is important and I’m so thankful you had an awesome time! YAY!
This is an awesome post! Thanks for the inspiration today girl!
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Whoa. Your grandmother looks a lot like my (now deceased) grandmother. What are the odds? And that’s good that you’re making time for family, so very important – I had the same problem with my grandmother (my Spanish is atrocious and that’s all she spoke so we never really talked), and I wish I would’ve gotten to know more about her.
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hah! great photos, made me smile! 🙂
And I really liked your (i guess) watch in a first photo! :)p
Love this series. I’m sorry to hear about your grammy. That’s sad, and super hard! But good for you on visiting your family. I need to make time for mine too. I need to go visit more!
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Lovely! Sounds like an awesome time with your family 🙂
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I completely agree with this! My grannie’s been struggling with dementia for the better part of 3 years, and we don’t even know the stories that are true anymore. I wish I had been able to get stories from her when I was younger because she has lived such a full life! You never know when you may not be able to spend time with your loved ones again, so it’s important to drink it all in while you can!
Your granny is adorable!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
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Dementia is HORRIBLE. I’d have the same reaction as you if my grandma forgot me. But that’s awesome that you got to spend some great quality time with your family!! Looks like a blast. 🙂
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I’m so sorry about your grandma. Not living near your family is tough. I live 2 1/2 hours away from mine but I do try to see them at least once a month and it does help with being far away. I don’t think my mom will ever get over the fact that “I moved away” but it makes the weekends we visit each other that much more precious.
Family time is seriously the most important thing! So glad you are making time for family time!
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That’s really great, Steph. I try to soak up the time I get with my sisters since I rarely see them. Hug your momma extra tight <3