Strong.

I’ve known many strong people in my lifetime but I have to say, that one of the strongest people I’ve met has to be my husband’s grandmother. I saw on Facebook the other day that she had had a stroke and was in a rehabilitation facility.  Now this woman has had a heck of year: she was scalded by a mug of hot tea and hospitalized, had a heart attack and was hospitalized, had a severe sinus infection and was hospitalized.  Now this – a stroke. Did I mention that she is 97 years old? That she lived alone until just about 8 months ago?

My daughter and I went to visit her yesterday after work.  We stopped and bought her a potted plant because she’s a gardener and loves all types of flowers.  Tonight I’m going to stop and buy her a Sudoko book and some pens.  Why? When she has had a stroke?  Well, I was trying to decide how best to prepare my daughter for the changes she would likely see in her grammy due to the stroke.  My daughter has never seen the aftermath of a brain injury.  But I decided that we would just go visit and then talk about it later.  I’m not lying when I say I was really nervous to see little grammy.  So we walked into the facility, found her room number, saw that it was near the nurses station – which didn’t bode well.  We walked into her room…….and there she was – eating her dinner. Herself.  Sitting in her chair at her little table eating dinner.  We talked for a good long while and we certainly couldn’t tell she had had a stroke.  She was still as sharp as a tack, didn’t seem to have any trouble with her spoon or fork or grabbing things.  I could see nothing wrong.  She did say that she was doing physical therapy to help her leg get stronger but that she was able to walk with her walker.  I did notice that she was a bit depressed which would be an obvious reaction to having your entire world changed in less than a year. 

So when we got ready to leave, I asked if there was anything she would like – crossword puzzles, word searches, etc.  And she said she likes numbers, she’s always done the Sudokos in the newspapers. So I will stop and pick up a Sudoko book. For a 97 year old woman who has just had a stroke.  They made them stronger back then for sure.