In Texas

Hey, Y'all,
Yeah, here we are in Texas, and you guys were right! It is pretty hot here, and muggy. Feels like East Tennessee weather came right with us. Ha ha.

Yesterday (was it only yesterday?) Gramps' niece, Donna, came and picked us up and took us to the airport. (That makes it sound easy, but it wasn't easy for her) Thank you so very much, dear Donna! She had already loaded the wheelchair into her van on Tuesday evening, and his suitcase as well. She had picked me up already on Wednesday morning and took me to the nursing home where we picked him up. We gave goodbye hugs to several of the staff there.

One of the ladies who is a resident there had written me a thank you card for bringing materials to her to make a baby quilt. Denise, the occupational therapist who worked with her and me, helped her to write the note. It was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes. I was really enjoying helping them. Isn't it wonderful to make good friends along the way? Hello, Georgie! it was wonderful knowing both of you all.

When we got to the airline terminal, a worker came out and helped us get Gramps out and into the wheelchair that I had purchased for him. Then he helped us get him and the luggage into the terminal, while Donna parked the car. The man then took Gramps over to the ticket counter and I got us checked in, following which we went over and had a seat to wait for Donna to come in to say goodbye to us.

Then security came and escorted us up to the security gate, and we went through security. Neither of us could go through that magnetic gate because Gramps has a metal joint, and I have a pacemaker. I got to stand up and get patted down by the female security guard (no excitement there! ha ha). Then I sat down and held my bare feet out (had socks on) so she could run her hands over the soles.

We got through security and the guard pushed Gramps and carried his walker to the right gate for us to depart from. Rick, the CNA at JCNH had told me to check the small cath bag that was strapped to Gramps inner thigh before we boarded the plane so that I could see if it needed to be emptied. Well, we got into the family restroom (after much struggle on my part trying to push the wheelchair in and hold the walker, plus carry the LARGE tapestry bag that held some essentials). I pushed the wheelchair over to the commode and had him stand up so I could check to see it the bag needed emptying. Well...I couldn't figure out how to undo the end of the bag, so I said, "Ah, let's just forget it and hope for the best". It turned out okay when we got here.

The plane ride was uneventful, but I did overhear a snippet of conversation that I thought was funny. As you may know, when the plane is getting ready for takeoff, the flight attendant says, "Please turn off any electronic equipment now that you may be using." A couple of minutes later, she speaks to the guy right behind me, and tells him to turn his off, and he said, "Oh, I didn't hear you." He then was telling his seat mate that his second wife had just divorced him. I felt like turning around and telling him that maybe she felt he had never listened to her, either.

When we arrived at DFW, the attendants had a little trouble getting Gramps off the plane, since he had trouble standing up after sitting for so long (and he doesn't stand up too well anyway), so after three or four of them couldn't succeed, they finally thought of using the aisle wheelchair which is built especially for going down the narrow aisle of an airplane.

Carol was waiting for us after having obtained a gate pass, and so we left the DFW, and headed for the nursing home. We found the staff quite accommodating and welcoming to us. He and I had not had any lunch, so Carol made a trip to Mickey Dee's and brought us back a burger and fries. We ate in the admissions office while a very nice lady named Ella worked on our admissions papers. Then we got Gramps settled in his room at Bishop Davies Nursing Center in Hurst. He is in room 105 B. The address is 2712 Hurstview Drive, Hurst, Texas 76054-2499. I am sure he would love to get cards. Thanks (if you so desire, that is).

This is growing into quite an epistle, so I will close for now. More later. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Love to all of you out there in Blogland.