a bittersweet trip

[Gemini Cricket]

I'm leaving tomorrow for Honolulu.
I'm jumping on a plane to be with my grandma.
The woman that raised me is not going to be around very much longer.
She has pneumonia and a collapsed lung.
She's at the hospital and they said she isn't doing well.
I'm dropping everything for now and going home where I feel I can be of some help and comfort.
I had a good 'ol cry with NA earlier but I'm doing much better.
A quick zip of a credit card and I'm off to Hawai'i tomorrow afternoon.
I would rather visit her now instead of at her funeral.
I feel that if I don't go, I'll regret it.

I'm throwing sh!t in a large duffle bag now. I have no idea what I'm packing...
:D

I can't even start to tell you how wonderful my grandmother is.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b268/braddoc310/nan.jpg

Aloha, Nana.

[innerSpaceman]

oh, gemini cricket ... i am so sad at hearing this, and yet so pleased that you are doing to right and loving and perfect thing.


love and peace with you, my friend, and with your wonderul grandma.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

All my best thoughts Brad! You do what you feel is right...

[Morrigoon]

I'm so sorry Brad. But glad for you that you're going to get to be with her and she with you :)

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Have a safe trip and much love to you. I think you made the right decision to go be with her.

[Disneyphile]

So sorry. :(

I hope you and Nana share wonderful moments that will last an eternity.

*hugs*

[wendybeth]

Your Nana sounds like a wonderful woman, and if she is the one who raised you she did a terrific job. I'm glad you are going now- you can be there for her while she's still here, and I'm sure she'll be so happy to see you.

Big hugs from us all.

[Deebs]

I have to agree, she helped make you into such a warm and loving person.

I'm so glad you are going home to be with her. If you had not made the choice to zip the credit card, I think you would have always regretted it.

Watching someone you love slip away is so hard. I was with my dad when he died just over a year ago, and it was very painful. But I would not change anything about it, and am so grateful that I was with him in his last moments.

Gah, I am crying for you now. I am just so sorry. You will never regret being there for your Nana. I'm thinking of you and wishing you strength.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

GC, I am so sorry. I think you are doing the right thing.

[Strangler Lewis]

Somehow, have a good trip doesn't cut it. Best wishes to you both.

[mousepod]

I'm sorry to hear this news, but so happy that you're taking action to go and say goodbye. She raised a good kid.

[3894]

Take care of yourself so you can take care of your grandma, Gemini Cricket.

Edited to add: If you're in the hospital waiting room with your laptop, click this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkddUldTl74).

[Moonliner]

I would rather visit her now instead of at her funeral.
I feel that if I don't go, I'll regret it.


Absolutely.

Best wishes to you and your Grandmother.

[Snowflake]

Oh GC, my condolences and I wish you a safe trip. I think you are 100% good to go and have some quality time to spend with your wonderful Grandmother. I know she will love seeing you and it will be a great opportunity for you to make sure she knows how wonderful and grateful you are to have her in your life, now and forever.

{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Oh, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

[~MS~]

Oh Brad, I'm so sorry to open the LoT this morning to this news. Safe travels, don't worry about what makes it in the duffle, they have stores on the island. Your nana won't care what you're wearing just that you loved her enough to be there ... sending up prayers for you both. Remember you have a lot of people (no pun intended) that love and care about you sweetie....big big hugs.

[cirquelover]

I'm so sorry. You are doing the right thing and I'm glad you have the ability to go be with her. So go, tell her how you feel and enjoy your time with her, she sounds like a special lady.

Have a safe trip and take care.

[Ghoulish Delight]

GC, I'm sorry to hear this. Enjoy your remaining time with her, she's lucky to have had a grandkid like you.

[BarTopDancer]

/hugs. Enjoy your time with her - and take care of yourself.

[Scrooge McSam]

All my best to you, GC. Your Nana will be so happy to see you. You're giving her a great gift.

{{{{{Brad}}}}}

[libraryvixen]

Your grandma can only benefit from having you there with her. Safe travels Brad!

Love from me and Boo.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I am glad you are able to travel there in her last days. We'll be thinking of you.

[Not Afraid]

Have a safe flight and give your Grandma a hug from all of us at loT who love you. Take care of yourself and calle me and let me know how things are.

[Kevy Baby]

{{{{{Brad}}}}}

[JWBear]

<<HUGS>> Brad.

[Gemini Cricket]

Thanks, you guys are so very awesome.
:)


By the way, anyone want to go for me? Big family = heap big drama.
The latest reports are fighting family members and theft.
:D

Oy vey!

[wendybeth]

Yikes, GC- sounds like we may be related! This sort of thing tends to bring out the best and worst in people.

[Kevy Baby]

The latest reports are fighting family members and theft.Could make for an interesting side show on the trip.

[katiesue]

I'll be thinking about you and your Nana. You're doing the right thing.

[madmonkeygirl]

Brad my condolences to you. Glad you made the decision to say your final goodbye now. Know it's rather difficult for you. I was able to do the same thing with both my grandma and grandpa on my mom's side. Oh btw when you come back i need to talk to you about April. Take care of yourself. Prayers go out to you.

[NirvanaMan]

I think your making the right call. Cherish those last moments.

[blueerica]

I echo the above sentiments.

I wish you well on your trip home.

[alphabassettgrrl]

(((hugs))) I think it's wonderful that you can go see her now while she's still here. She did a great job with you, as evidenced again by the fact that you are making that long trip to see her. I don't think you'll regret going, but you'd regret passing up this last chance to see her.

Travel safely.

Your family is already stealing and fighting? Wow. I hope you escape the family drama unscathed.

[belleh5]

GC, I am so sorry! The same thing happened to my family when my grandmother died 6 years ago. Sadly all her money went to court fees and now I only have one uncle. Good luck & have a safe trip! (((((Hugs)))))

[Tom]

Our thoughts and hopes are with you, and please call on us if there is anything we can do or any way we can help.

[CoasterMatt]

{{{GC}}}}

[Not Afraid]

He texted me from the plane. He got an exit row! And....he's got all male flight attendants = gay a picnic baskets.

I love our GC.

[Snowflake]

Oh bless his heart! That's a real plus for the trip!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Wait, picnic baskets are gay?

[Not Afraid]

Latest text: "The Queen has landed."

[wendybeth]

I love GC. He's such a sweetie, even in the midst of heartache. I hope all goes well for him and his Nana.

[NickO'Time]

Hugs too the Cricket.

[Snowflake]

The Queen has landed and I am sure he looked fetching in his welcome lei. I only hope some hunky surfer boy did the honors!

[Morrigoon]

All male flight attendants and he got lei'd on landing? Special, special boy :)

[Chernabog]

All my love to you Braddock, you're doing the right thing by going. Just hang in there and call me if you need to talk!!! Don't worry about the fishies :P

[Snowflake]

All male flight attendants and he got lei'd on landing? Special, special boy :)


Well, I am assuming he got lei'd :D

[sleepyjeff]

My Best Wishes GC.

[Gemini Cricket]

A Nana update:

Believe it or not, she's going to be checking out of the hospital today and checking back in to her care home. The fluids cleared up from her chest and she's recovering. Amazing woman.

She's still in a coma-like state where she comes and goes, but she did respond to a couple of her visitors. The hospital has this amplifier headset that she wears so she can hear people. When certain people talk into it, she can hear them. She could hear me and my aunt from Vancouver. It was neat.

I'll update y'all more later.

The family has calmed down. All seems to be okay.

:)

[JWBear]

Glad to hear she's doing better!

[Deebs]

Yay! Go, Nana!

This is just great news. Thank you for letting us know, I have been checking back here and thinking about you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time there.

[~MS~]

That is wonderful news Brad, now you get to spend even 'better' quality time with her....she's going to be so happy to have her boy there for a bit.

[Not Afraid]

That's wonderful news!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Awesome news!!

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Wonderful to hear this news, GC! :)

[Snowflake]

Brad, this is awesome news!
Hug your Nana real hard from your friend here, make sure she knows I think she raised the bees knees!

Maybe you can also enjoy some real Hawaian BBQ! ;)

[katiesue]

Great News!

[wendybeth]

Too cool, Brad- I was hoping to see a post like this! You're Nana sounds like a very resilient lady.:)

[alphabassettgrrl]

That's awesome, Brad!
**hugs**
-k

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Yay! :)

[Scrooge McSam]

That's excellent news to wake up to!

I'm so happy for you. Thanks for the update.

[Morrigoon]

Brad, I'm so glad to hear it. And she must be pretty pleased to see the lengths to which you will go out of love for her. And now you can spend some happy time with her.

[Gemini Cricket]

Back in California.

An interesting week, indeed.

First off, my grandma is doing better. The pneumonia has cleared up and her lungs seem to be fine. She's still in a state where she isn't very responsive, but her condition is much improved. She will be checking back into her home either tonight or tomorrow.

My trip was amazingly enlightening and relaxing.
I got to catch up with my immediate family and my favorite aunt. She lives in Vancouver now and I haven't talked to her in about 5 years or so.

I found out quickly that my role for this trip was going to be comic relief, so I ran with it. There was so much grief, regret and anger that my only choice was to counter it with humor. I think it worked. My feeling was that in hard times like this, you can either let it destroy you or you can endure it and live on.

My grandma was not responding to anyone when I arrived. When she responded to me and my aunt, the family was convinced that visits from us out-of-towners improved her condition. I told them that it was possible that she was just ignoring everyone and really wanted to sleep.

Something I learned is that when a person comes to from a long coma-like state, the person that emerges isn't necessarily a wide-eyed, kind soul. Sometimes, a person will be exactly as curmudgeonly as they were when they were last seen. My grandma was that way. She woke once to tell everyone that she had a headache and someone should do something about it or else. Hysterical. What I also found out is that a person in that state isn't necessarily forgiving either, being so close to knocking on heaven's door. Trying to jog Nana's memory, we listed off family members to see if she remembered them. Her least favorite daughter (a family member who stole from my grandma and was a starring character at my grandfather's funeral fiasco) was intentionally 'forgotten' by my grandma. She said she didn't have a daughter named Vera. But all signs pointed to the fact that she knew her but just didn't acknowledge her. Very, very telling.

Anyway, all seems to be back to normal for now.

I will continue about this trip in another thread. Something stunningly revealing happened to me that I'd like to share. But as it has little to do with Nana, I'll start another discussion about it. And, as I am battling the time change and the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow, I'm kinda worn out at the moment.

Thanks for all the kudos and support sent my grandma's way. It worked.

:)

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Welcome Back!! :cheers:

[mousepod]

Welcome home, GC! I'm glad you got to spend some bonus quality time - and that you were the comic relief.

[madmonkeygirl]

Brad good to hear about your grandma. Prayers continue. Glad you are back. When you are up to it you have a couple of PM's.

[Sohrshah]

Wow. I just need to say, what an amazing group of people you all are. I'm proud and happy to be part of this!

GC, I don't know if we've ever met, but I wish you and your Nana all the best.

:)

[~MS~]

Welcome home Brad and glad to hear that your nana is doing ok again.

[katiesue]

Glad you're home safely and your Nana is doing better.

[innerSpaceman]

Pfft, you were practicing your comic-relief talents with text messages from the departing flight before you even got there.

Glad grandma pulled out of it, and I hope she sticks around for quite a while.

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

[JWBear]

Welcome back!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Welcome back, Brad. Hope work doesn't kick your butt for taking off.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Welcome home! Thank goodness for comic relief, eh?

I'm so glad your Nana is doing better and that you got to connect in a good way with family. :)

[Gemini Cricket]

Welcome back, Brad. Hope work doesn't kick your butt for taking off.
Work has been generously supportive of the situation. I am lucky.
My temporary replacement is having a hard time, rumor has it. Which... isn't a bad thang...
:D

[wendybeth]

I'll bet your Nana adores you. She should.:cheers:

(Thanks for the great post- it made me smile).

[€uroMeinke]

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

I just want to hear about the naughty bits

[Gemini Cricket]

I just want to hear about the naughty bits
And, believe it or not, there were some.
;)

[cirquelover]

Welcome back! I'm glad to hear Nana has been released and is home again. I'm sure it's a big relief to you too.

[Gemini Cricket]

Well, my grandma gave up her ghost at 11:00pm Friday night Hawn time.

I'm incredibly sad but glad that her pain is over.

I'm glad that I saw her yesterday. She gave me a look yesterday that made me feel like she was letting herself go. It's hard to explain, but there was a lot behind those eyes.

Well, I thought I should let everyone know asap.

Thanks again for your love & support.

Brad

[lashbear]

Big Hugs to you and your family from Downunder.

[Drince88]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Moonliner]

It sounds like a lot of her spirit still lives in you GC

[MouseWife]

Oh, Brad.

I am so glad for you that you are in Hawa'ii right now. That you've been there. I think you knew you needed to be there.

My most sincere condolences.

[Nephythys]

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss-:(

Hugs

[innerSpaceman]

:(

[Betty]

So sorry to hear of your loss GC. :(

[~MS~]

No words will make the loss any easier, but know that you are in all our thoughts and prayers right now Brad. She was an amazing lady and she passes her spirit on to you. May she rest in peace.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Oh, Brad. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm glad you were able to see her - I'm familiar with that look of letting go. Deeply sad though it may be, there's a sense of peace for the person who's going. I wish you and your loved ones peace and strength through this difficult time. Do not hesitate to contact us if you need anything.

[Strangler Lewis]

Sincere condolences.

[wolfy999]

Hugs from the Wolfpack, I'm sure glad you were home and near by when you lost your dear Nana. If you need anything at all, we're just a call away!

Aloha Nana

[JWBear]

My heart goes out to you and your family, Brad. <<HUGS>>

[Kevy Baby]

I am sorry for your loss Brad. Know that many here are thinking of you and love you.

[blueerica]

I'm sorry for your loss, Brad.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

So sorry, Brad.

[BarTopDancer]

Very sorry Brad.

[Tom]

My deepest condolences. Our thoughts are with you now.

[Snowflake]

Brad, my condolences to you and your family. Your Gran sounded like a very special person, I wish her godspeed on the next part of her journey and you blessings for being the wonderful guy you are. Hugs

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Our condolences to you and your family.

[Not Afraid]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Brad, but I am very glad you are in HI right now and that you had timw to spend with her during her last year.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

So sorry for your loss GC.

[RStar]

Crap, I missed the whole trip. Brad, I'm also very glad you were able to be there to say good bye.



Oh, and also:



Latest text: "The Queen has landed."

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! ;)


{{{{{Brad}}}}}

Take care, my friend.

[€uroMeinke]

So sorry Bred, glad you could be there though

[katiesue]

Brad I'm so sorry. We'll keep you and your family in our thoughts.

[Chernabog]

So sorry to hear about your grandma GC ):3 <---- unhappy rabbit

((BIG HUGS))

[Gemini Cricket]

Thanks again, y'all. :)

Guess who's doing the eulogy... Ugh!

[innerSpaceman]

Don't ugh. It's an honor. You'll be fine. Love you, my friend.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Yeah, I understand "ugh" but its your chance to shine and to tell the everyone present what she meant to you. Be yourself, use the opportunity, tell what you feel and it will be ok.

IMHO. ;)

[cirquelover]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sure that whatever you say will be beautiful because she sounds like a beautiful woman. Take care.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Love you, Brad.

[Mousey Girl]

I don't think she would have selected anyone else, had the choice been hers.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Very sorry to hear this GC. :(
{big guy hugs}

[Disneyphile]

Much love to you, Brad! *hugs*

[Gemini Cricket]

I guess I'm ugh-ing because when my grandfather died my dad did the eulogy and one of my cousins tried to punch him in the face.
I think I posted that story a looong time ago at MousePad...

ETA: Oooh! I found the thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=16116&highlight=funeral).

[Gn2Dlnd]

I hope you don't get punched in the face by one of your cousins.

But, if you do, will there be video?

[innerSpaceman]

oh, I had forgotten about that old story.


So .... you're in the publishing biz now. How's that crazy tell-all about your barely-fictionalized family coming along? Billion-seller if ever there was one. Have your company give you a fat advance.

[Prudence]

I'm sorry to hear the news, GC. :( But I'm sure your words of remembrance will be magnificent.