Not ready to say good-bye

My dad's mother, Granny, suffered a small stroke on the evening/morning of July 25th/26th. She and a group of her friends call each other every morning to make sure that things are ok. Well, that Wednesday morning when they called, Granny wasn't speaking correctly. They took her to her doctor who sent her straight to the ER in Tyler. There it was discoved that she had suffered an ischemic stroke on the left side of her brain between the speech and memory centers of the brain. Her speech returned later that day, not 100%, but it came back and she was able to communicate. To my knowledge, there were no physical effects from the stroke. She was in the hospital for 4 days and then released to go home. She still has some trouble getting her mouth to say what her brain is thinking, and she doesn't remember everything, but in all, it was a mild stroke and given her quick recovery, I believe that her speech and memory will return to normal, or near normal in time.

I was able to go and see her this past Tuesday and stay a few days. It was good to be there. I got to spend time with my dad and his wife. And I got to be with Granny. We didn't run a marathon, or even play endless games of Skip-bo...mainly we just sat. I read, we both fell alseep in our chairs, occaisionally we would talk about someone or something. But I got to be there; to spend time with her.

What I realized through my time there is that I'm not ready to say good-bye. Now you may be saying, "Duh!" as you read this, but hear me out. Granny has always been young. Even though she's older than 75 (I might get in even more trouble if I told you her actual age--don't be mad Granny), she's always on the go. She should have moved to Tyler years ago!! She could have bought Trump Towers with the amount of gas money she's spent on trips to Tyler. Anyway, she's emailing on the computer, baking for weddings or other church functions, or any number of things. She's always been young.

Needless to say, this stroke has slowed her down a little. I don't think it will keep her down for long, and I believe that she is going to be just fine...but I'm a doctor. I've seen strokes and the way they can affect people. It was a stroke that took my granddad's life 6.5 years ago. And when I got that call from my dad, it scared me. I didn't know how bad it was a first and naturally your mind assumes the worst. Granny was lucky. This stroke was minor and long-term I don't think will affect her too much. But in the last 2 weeks, I have thought alot about her. And I realized that I'm not ready to say good-bye.

I haven't had the chance to give her a great-grandchild. Sure she has 6 or 7 others and another on the way, but I personally haven't introduced her to one of my children. She hasn't been to Houston to see my house. She hasn't been to church to worship with me and Beth. She's never seen where I work. There are still stories about family that I want to hear. And Lord knows I can't keep up with all the outlaws and in-laws the way she can. There were 7 kids in Granny's family and my granddad had 2 brothers and a sister (I think) so you can imagine how many different families we're talking about. Not to mention her 7 grandchildren and their families (which I did above...see the great-grandchildren comment).

Again, this is all to say that I'm not ready to say good-bye. I absolutely hate the feeling I got that Wednesday when my dad called. I saw his number on the caller ID and remember thinking, "Oh good. Dad. I'm glad he's calling. It will be nice to talk to him." Then, in a heartbeat...the world changed, forever.

Unfortunately, I've had those phone calls before, and I'm sure they will come again.

Call your family. Tell them that you love them. Ask your grandparents how their day was. Call you little brother and find out how his life is. Call your spouse and tell them that your lucky to be married and can't wait to see them again. Life can change in a heartbeat.