Over the River and Along the Interstate....

... to Grandmother's house we go!

It dawned on me as we were almost to mom’s house Christmas day and I missed the turn that I hadn’t been to Clay Center since June. Six months and I had spaced off how to get to my mom’s house. Yikes! Of course I didn’t offer that little tidbit up to her.  I didn’t want to hear, “Yeah I’m always the one who has to come see YOU!”  That arrangement has worked out perfectly so far so why ruin a good thing.  

Aging parents and grandparents are a hard thing to accept all the way around. My grandmother is 87 and for as long as I can remember she has always been a very independent, strong willed woman; almost to a fault. My dad would get so frustrated with her but never to her face. She’s lived through two husbands and outlived two of her children. Most people wouldn’t have survived incidents so traumatic but my grandmother has never been ordinary or meek. She always gives me grief about being stubborn and every time I simply look at her and say, “Yep. I wonder where I get it.”  Gram now has to accept she’s getting old. She isn’t as mobile or able to travel long distances any longer and that frustrates her to no end.  There isn’t anything we can say or do to make that better for her.

Last year mom couldn’t bear to put up the tree without my dad but his year she said she was ready to decorate and celebrate.  Gram joined us for dinner and presents then headed home to rest. Meanwhile, the rest of us cracked open a bottle (or two) of wine and played Scrabble while continuing to veg on whatever was in front of us. I discovered my mom does not own a cork screw so we had to get creative. I screwed an actual screw into the cork (with a battery powered screwdriver) and then had Daniel use pliers to lift it out. That worked well on the first bottle; the second, not so much. We ended up shoving the cork down into that bottle and pouring around it.

My Christmas started at 6:35am and I’ll admit I wasn’t excited about it. I anticipated it being an awful, depressing day because of the two days prior but it all turned out better than I could have hoped.  I am thankful for those people in my life who essentially save me from myself by not taking “no” as an answer.  My Santas were very good to me but that was the best gift I received this Christmas.