Milestones

My grandpa turned 90 today. I'm in Maryland for the weekend to celebrate; Tim, Steve, and Ellen just got here too, so we'll have a little party for him tomorrow night. I got here while my grandparents were taking their nap, so I asked my mom if I could wake them up.

"Oh, Anne!!!" exclaimed my grandma when she opened her eyes and saw me. "What brings you here?!"

I'm here for Pop-Pop birthday-- he's turning 90 today!

"Oh, it's his birthday??" and she turned to my grandpa apologetically. "Oh Bill, I didn't even send you a card!"

Gramarie broke her hip a couple months ago and had to have a hip replacement, but she suffers from Alzheimer's and doesn't remember any of that ordeal (or that she'd probably wished Pop-Pop a "Happy Birthday" at least a dozen times earlier in the day). She still isn't allowed to walk without a walker, but she doesn't remember this and has to be reminded constantly. After helping her get up from the bed and getting her set up with her walker, she and I started to head to the kitchen to have some tea (Birthday Tea from Alice's, to be exact). As my mom helped Pop-Pop get up from the other side of the bed and get started on his way with his walker, Gramarie lost focus on heading out to the kitchen. Turns out, she was still distraught over forgetting his birthday. "Oh Bill," she said, parking her walker and heading over to him on her own -- we interrupted her with a shout of "You can't walk without your walker!!!" and she said, "But I just want to give him a birthday kiss; I haven't even given him a birthday kiss yet." But she took her walker with her the remaining few steps and gave him a kiss, both of their walkers awkwardly between them. "Happy Birthday, Bill; I love you."

It reminded me of when we went to move them from the Assisted Care place in Cape Cod to my parents' home in Maryland. The nurses and aides there told me, "We'll miss seeing your grandparents walking down the hall to meals, always hand-in-hand. It's obvious that they love each other very much."

They celebrated their 62nd anniversary this past Sunday. 62 years-- filled with their share of hard things, but also with so many good memories-- and those nurses and aides were right: it's obvious that they still love each other very much.

Happy Birthday, Pop-Pop!