Granny

My sister's family and our family followed each other on the drive up, as my dad & stepmom went a day earlier than we did. We broke up the drive on the way going there and stayed the night in Davenport, IA. To drive straight through would take between 10-12 hours depending on traffic, construction, path, and of course stops along the way. We were happy to arrive on Friday afternoon and check into our hotel and grab some lunch. Once that was all underway, we drove to my Uncle Wayne's house and met my dad there. Uncle Wayne & Aunt Sharon live on a farm, what used to be a pig farm. They have no children of their own, but I remember having so much fun at their house during the summers as a child. My sister and I would ride in the combines during harvest while the hay was getting bailed and my dad would walk the field moving the bails, until one day he found a snake cut up in one. That was the last time we wanted to do that. It was great to show Cooper, Campbell, Bailey, & Ryland around the farm. We then loaded up to drive out to Granny's house.

My dad is #3 in a family of 7 kids. Granny's house is the only house I've ever known Granny to live in. Papa passed away 8 years ago, so she has been very lonely since then. The other kids that live there take care of her and look after her at home. Granny's house is on 6 acres of land and as long as I can remember my dad's oldest sister lived on that land with her family as well. Which meant anytime we came to visit Granny & Papa, we could play with our cousins. Of course when your a kid and your cousins are older and all boys, they tend to want to run in the fields, play in the dirt, jump out of the barn, and climb on the roof. All things my mom would NEVER let us do, but when dad took us for a visit, he would let us play and have fun. All good memories. It wasn't quite the same feeling of excitement driving up to Granny's house this trip. Time has taken a toll on every material thing there and on all of us people. It was sad to see, but good to be there sharing that with the kids.

Granny looked very good. She was watching tv and carrying on conversations. And despite having had a stroke about 6 months ago, she knows what is going on but the words just won't flow as quickly as she would like them to. All the kids were great about sitting and talking and being kind to Granny. My Uncle Jeff was there and his wife takes care of Granny. We sat and visited for a while telling stories of past times and enjoying each others company.

After our visit we headed back to Uncle Wayne's house to eat dinner with Aunt Carol and Uncle Jimmy and their spouses. It was delicious food and tons of it. Uncle Wayne hooked up the Wii for the kids to play while us adults just chatted the evening away.



Me, Granny, and my sister visiting Granny at her house in Michigan.


Chad, Cooper, Granny, Campbell, and me. It was so nice to see Granny again.