I've meant to update our blog before now.
After spending a week going through Ronnie's things, I decided I needed to go through our house as well. I spent two days working on the basement. I can't believe all the things I threw out and gave away. It is now a comfortable, relaxing place to be. The kitchen table that we brought back from South Dakota now has a permanent in home in our basement and is right now being used to put together a puzzle.
Next, was the kitchen, den and living room. I still need to go through a couple of cabinets and make final decisions on bowls and things.
Noelle and I spent two days on her room. I was very proud of her going through things and making her own mind up as to what to keep and what to give away. It is very much teenage girl, only clean.
I then spent a couple of days up at the shop getting things caught up before joining Michael to do his room.
As I was making dinner Tuesday night, the nursing home called to say that gramma was having a hard time breathing and they were taking her to the hospital. When she got there, the emergency room doctor called to say it appeared she had experienced a "slight" heart attack, so she was going to be admitted. Later, the doctor on call from the group she see's called to say she understood that gramma was a "no code" and what did I really want done for gramma. I said I wanted her to be comfortable. I had never been asked that before, but I knew what it meant.
Wednesday morning, the doctor said she was not doing very well, but by the afternoon, she had perked up some and had even spent a good part of the day sitting up in a chair. Mom and dad, who had been in St. Louis headed back home so we could make our way to South Dakota to be with her.
Thursday morning, the nurse called about 6:30 to say that gramma had a rough night and was not doing good. I called mom and dad and said we needed to get on the road. After I got off the phone with them, I prayed that God would just let her go quietly at the hospital and not at the nursing home where she lived with Ronnie. The nurse called back about 7 to say that gramma had passed.
Mom, dad and I are now back in South Dakota. We will pick up Ronnie about 8:30 to go to Estelline to make the arrangements.
Mom said when she and Ronnie were little, grampa would turn on the radio and say "let's have a dance" to gramma. Grampa died in 1982. I believe grampa was standing at the gates with bright lights and music playing, holding out his hand said, "Irene, I've been waiting for you, let's have a dance".
