Since we both had an extra day (or three for me!) off of work this past week, Gaines and I hopped a plane to Madison, Wisconsin to see my grandparents. No only were we greeted by my parents in the airport, but we walked out into pretty white snow.
It didn't last for very long, but since we came from 70 degree weather, I was happy for the colder change.
Friday afternoon was spent catching up over grilled cheese sandwhiches, watching "Waiting for Superman" (any teachers out there-- definitely a must see!), and a short drive to see my Grampy at Oak Park, which is the assisted living facility he moved into last October.
P.S. Here he is shaving. Sam and Dales, remember when he would sit for hours and do this?! :)
Grampy was diagnosed with diabetes at a relatively young age, and while he did a great job excercising, taking his blood, and monitoring his food intake, the disease took it's toll on him over the years. In fact, one of its long-term effects is lack of blood flow, which caused issues with his eyes and legs years ago.
I don't know that it's been officially diagnosed, but Annie is great about researching things and thinks he now has Vascular Dementia, which is esentially a result of his diabetes and the poor blood flow assoicated with it. According to a
site I found, it's actually the second most common type of dementia and is caused by chronic reduced blood flow to the brain.
Anyways, mom, dad, Gaines, and I went to see Grampy on Friday afternoon. It was wonderful to see him, though very emotional, too. The next morning, just mom and I went to visit him and take him out to breakfast at one of his favorite places. We told him all about things that were going on in the family and reminisced about old vacations and memories we had together. He told us several times how much he loved meeting Gaines and called later that day to tell Annie how much he loved his family.
We spent the rest of that day touring Madison (like the Capitol, the UW campus, the nearby lakes) with our excellent tour guide Annie....
and then walked out onto the frozen lake, like we had done a couple of years ago with sweet Hershey.
circa 2009
Side Note: Annie and Grampy live a couple of houses down from the Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. There are mom and dad right in front of his digs. :) But if you haven't heard of all the hoop-la going on up there surrounding him, it is very interesting. It involves teacher's unions (scary!) and a recall on the election. Here's an
article that explains the situation a little better and the implications on the rest of the country.
We went up to the club for dinner that night, which was always a favorite of mine growing up, and had the best time!
And of course no trip to the club is complete without grabbing handfuls of mints on the way to and from the dining room. Sammy and Dales, I grabbed you plenty. ;)
We ended the trip with a great breakfast the next morning.....
and a lot of great memories to take home. :)
As Grampy said, "I love my family!"
