Grandma Louisa

Couple moments I want to remember, both good & bad & weird {hehe} This is an extremely long post but I want to remember all the special moments my kids had with gma Louisa while living at gparent Halls house.

2nd day at gparents house, 6am and Kyler is standing above me shaking my shoulder. "Mom he says I heard a loud noise." My reply "Ky it was probably nothing, just go back to sleep." 7:45am rolls around and I finally drag myself out of bed. As I am heading to the bathroom we share with Louisa I hear her saying "Jamie, Kyler, Jaelin is that you?" I reply in a tired voice "Yea gma whats up?"{her door to bathroom was shut}.. She then replys "Um I just needed help," so I open the door and their lays on the ground my gma.

I ask gma what happened and she states she lost her balance. I ask how long she was laying their {since she is blind she really doesn't know} and she replys a long time, and then it hits me like a bag of bricks. THAT was the noise Kyler heard. My gma has been laying on the floor for 2 hours and I was too lazy to get out of bed {in my defense I never thought the loud noise Ky heard could have been her}

Needless to say, that day I went to the store, bought a whistle, found a lanyard big enough to go around her neck and she has worn it {& had to use it} since.

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Now that I have shared our living arrangements for the last 4 months I want to write about how amazing my SIX year old daughter is. {She turned 6 less then 2 weeks before we made the big move}

When we approached my gparents about moving in with them & Louisa {my g-gma whom is 95, blind & almost completely deaf} I had a huge fear, Jaelin bonding too closely with gma Louisa {I realize that sounds horrible, but I promise it will make sense} and something bad happening.

Jaelin has been gma's everything. Jaelin takes gma for 2 walks around the house every day {each walk is 272 feet and takes about 11 minutes}. Every morning Jaelin wakes up, gets gma her cereal, her morning pills, and helps gma pick out her clothes. Every night Jaelin helps gma to the bathroom, patiently waits on her bed, helps gma get in her night gown, gives her night time pills, tucks her in and kisses her good night.

I can not put in words how proud, blessed, amazed, and touched by the bond that has formed between these two ladies. I can not name another 6 year old who can identify which is gmas poopy pill, water pill, heart burn pill, sleepy pill, and pain pill {she knows exactly what is what & what gma is supposed to take at night & morning}. She has no problem helping gma undress and get dressed {gma does wear garments so she isn't nude but still how many people feel comfortable dressing an older person}

I love watching Jaelin sing songs, read books and just carry random conversations with gma Louisa. I honestly feel they are the best of friends and have a powerful bond that many of us can never understand. I love my daughter SO much and can not be any prouder of the strength and heart she has for her gma!!

While living here we have had to pick gma up off the floor, feed her, bathe her, wash her clothes, give her meds, entertain her, but most importantly be there for her. We have took her to the hospital** against her will {chest pains} and have got her hooked up with a home health nurse. I admire the strength she has and the faith she has at her age.

**Hospital** - This was the hardest day I have encountered in a long time. Gma Louisa woke up at 6am and just didn't seem right. She was having chest pains and I just knew something wasn't normal. The gparents were out of town so gma Louisa was my responsibility so I called my mom, woke up the hubby and we decided she needed to go to hospital.

Tony & Mom took her to hospital while I stayed home with sleeping kids. When Jaelin woke up she went straight to gmas room, I saw her walk around the house, look on the front porch, then come to front room were I was sitting. She looks at my confused and worried and asks where gma Louisa was. I simply stated "She went to the hospital, she isn't feeling well." I can't put into words Jaelin's face when I said that. She looked scared, lost, confused, broken hearted. I could tell she was fighting back tears so I explained to her the gma is old and her heart isnt strong like ours. She then asked me when gma would be home, and I told her I wasn't sure.

Her next comment tore me. She looks at me broken hearted and says "Mom promise me, promise me gma is coming back home." I could feel the tears building up in my eyes {as they are now writing this} and I told her I couldn't promise her that, but that my heart believed she would be home soon. {thank goodness I was right}. Anyways Jaelin left to get dressed and came back and made me aware that gma hadn't had her morning pills and did I think she was okay. I decided to call my mom to see how gma was and see if we could get Jae in the ER to see her.

My mom went and talked to dr's/nurses, told them the amazing bond between gma Louisa & Jaelin, and they allowed her in the ER. I told Jaelin that gma was just being "babysat" and that she was doing good. We get to the hospital and Jaelin is so excited to see her, but right when we walk into gma's room & Jaelin sees gma on hospital bed she breaks down. She is bawling hysterical & burys her head in my side. Gma Louisa is trying to get Jaelin to come see her and Jaelin walks over there, grabs gmas hand & they are now both crying {it was killing me inside}. I went out for a minute to give them a moment to chat, but I soon realized Jaelin was only getting more emotional so my mom took her out for a walk.

For the next 2 days while gma was admitted for observation, we took Jaelin for visits. Jaelin wanted to be there for as many meals as possible, and to make sure they were giving her all her meds. {She would ask dr/nurses if gma got all her pills, it was too cute}

Again I am so proud that at 6 years old Jaelin has turned into such an amazing young lady. Her strength, power, love and bond she has built makes her unbelievable.

**She actually asked if maybe she can just stay at gma & gpa house to take care of gma Louisa instead of living with us in new house. In return I promised her we could come at least 2 times a week for Jaelin to put her in bed.**