Wintermute: family time

one of the greatest things about living up here has been that my mom's family lives in baltimore, and i've been able to spend a lot of time with them. dr. w is great about it, and it warms my heart to see her and my grandmother get to know each other. i grew up with ba (what we call her) living with us for much of middle school and high school, and now she lives with my mom's oldest sister.

she turned 93 two weeks ago, and hasn't been feeling well. mostly, she's been fighting off the flu, but at 93, it can be a daunting proposition. a few weekends ago i came by to visit, and she was really not doing well. she wasn't strong enough to get out of bed, and she didn't recognize me at first. i really kind of lost it there, thinking that i was too late, and i couldn't believe that she could go so quickly from being very alert and 100% sharp to being that disoriented. it turns out, thankfully, that she was a bit dehydrated and had just woken up from a nap. after she had lunch, she felt much better, and we were talking and laughing. however, i didn't want my brother to risk going through the same thing--i wanted him to be able to spend time with ba while she was still able to fully interact. i rang him that afternoon, and he flew in last friday.

we ended up having a great weekend. ba was feeling much better, he got to re-connect with our nieces, and we celebrated dr. wintermute's birthday and my birthday (belatedly and early, respectively) with the family.

every day is a bit touch and go. ba has some really good days, and some bad days. my mom is coming in this week to stay for a month and spend time with the fam.

some pics.