March 08 -- the month in review

Let's just say I can't wait for this month to end! It all started when my beloved grandmother passed away on Sun, March 2. We had to quickly find flights to get the five of us up to NJ for the wake and funeral. We had uneventful flights up and back, and I would highly recommend Jet Blue. They really do have the most leg room that I've found. The wake and funeral were lovely as those things go. My grandmother was 96 years old and had lived a long wonderful life. She met her great grandchildren, traveled the world, had many friends, and died just like she wanted to. We all had enough time to say goodbye to her, so we have no regrets. Some dear friends of mine came to the wake -- my very best friends from HS, and one of my friends that I used to work with. It was nice to see so many friends, neighbors and family members.

While the priest was doing his brief prayer service, he asked us if we wanted to say anything about Granny. My mom and uncle talked about what a great mother she was. My mom mentioned how Granny kept going on even when she was dealt a tough blow. She grew up during the Depression, lost her firstborn during childbirth, lost her husband just days before their 13th anniversary, leaving her to raise a 9 and 10 yo by herself. She was an amazing and strong woman, and lived alone until she was 88! My dad mentioned how she had a wicked sense of humor and thought it was hilarious when my dad was being bent into a pretzel (or so it felt) during a massage in Japan. My mom and grandmother were in the beds next to his, and the beds were shaking from them laughing so hard at him. (They went easy on Granny and also with my mom as she was pregnant wiht me at the time.) I remembered a story my mom told me that sums up my grandmother's character for me. My mom and grandmother were in Brooklyn and went to dinner at Granny's favorite Irish restaurant. There was a woman sitting alone at a nearby table, but she had two drinks, one in front of her and one for her missing companion. My grandmother sensed what was going on and went to the lady's table and began talking to her. As it turned out, this was that couple's favorite restaurant and this was her first time there since her husband had passed away. She had ordered his favorite drink for him. My grandmother gave this new widow a pep talk. She mentioned how it would be difficult at first to get by, but as time went on, things would get easier. She didn't sugar coat it, but she let the woman know that the pain and sadness would lessen with time. By the end of their conversation, this woman was even smiling. I would never have the nerve to go up to someone and talk to them like she did.

Right after we returned home from the funeral we left for a vacation in San Diego. That was heavenly. DH and I enjoyed massages, and my parents watched the kids for us. We enjoyed a family reunion with a bunch of my mom's cousins who live on the west coast.

The following week was Spring Break and Miss B went to the YMCA camp. We both had off on Good Friday, but my car was in the shop, so we spent the day at home.

This week A and I went to the doctor on Monday. He has a double ear infection and I am getting over a throat infection. Tuesday morning at 2am Miss S had croup and required a trip to the ER to have it checked out. She couldn't catch her breath and it scared me silly. Then Wed afternoon A fell at daycare and split the back of head open. It probably didn't need stitches, but I've never dealt with a cut on the scalp. He wound up with one staple. So now I've had 2 ER visits in 36 hours...

The list goes on, but that's the biggest part of it all. Now I'm going to go to bed.