Blueberries for Sal.... (ok, that's a lie... they were really for us)

We went blueberry picking tonight. I'm in Maryland (not sure where we would have found a Pick-Your-Own-Blueberries place in Brooklyn), and we all went-- me, my parents, my 90 year-old grandpa, and my 92 year-old grandma. Gramarie even had her own pail to fill and was disappointed when we had to leave because she hadn't filled hers yet.

You'll remember that both my grandparents have Alzheimers.... and my parents are some of the most patient people I know. The whole excursion went something like this:

Padre (after dinner): "Who wants to go blueberry picking??"
Gramarie: "Ooh, that would be fun! Bill, do you want to go?"
Pop-pop/Bill: "No."
Gramarie: "Why not? Bill, are you okay?"
Pop-pop: "I don't want to go."
Gramarie: "Bill, are you okay? Are you mad? Why wouldn't you want to go? What's wrong? Do you feel okay?"
Pop-pop: "I just don't want to go."
Gramarie: "Are you going to stay here?"
Pop-pop: "Yes, yes. I'll just stay here."
Padre: "Dad, you should come. You don't have to pick blueberries; you can sit in the car. I think you'll enjoy the ride."
Pop-pop: "Oh, ok."
Gramarie: "Bill, do you want to come with us?"
Pop-pop: "No."
Padre: "Yes, you should come. We're all going to go together. It's a nice ride; you'll enjoy it."
Gramarie: "What's wrong, Bill? Don't you feel okay?"
Pop-pop: "I don't know..."
Padre: "Well, let's get ready to go; I think you'll be glad we did."
[a few minutes later]
Gramarie: "Who's going? Bill, are you going?
Pop-pop: "No, I don't think so. I'm just going to stay here."
Gramarie: "What's wrong? Are you mad?"
Pop-pop: "No, I'm not mad."
Gramarie (to the rest of us): "I just don't understand why people get mad and won't tell you why. It's just not right."
Padre: "Ok, Mom, why don't you get yourself ready and I'll get Dad into the car.

[Somehow this gets accomplished and we start driving. Two minutes in....]
Gramarie: "Why does it say 'E' on the mirror? Are we out of gas?"
Mom: "Wait a minute.... soon it will say 'NE' for Not Empty."
Me: "We're fine, Gramarie. We have almost a full tank."
Padre: "Don't worry; we have plenty of gas.
[One minute later]
Gramarie: "Wow, how far away is this place? Do you know where you're going? How are we on gas?"
Padre: "Uh-oh. We're about to run out; but I'm not worried. You know why I'm not worried?"
Gramarie: "Why?"
Padre: "Because you can push."
Gramarie (laughing): "I'm not pushing this car! This is a really big hill!"
[Two more minutes...]
Gramarie: "How are we on gas? Does anyone even know where we are? What is this?" (We were driving over the Susquehanna River) "Are we in New Jersey?"
Mom: "No... we were in Maryland. And we're still in.... Maryland."
Gramarie: "That doesn't make any sense."

[We got to the farm, and Padj, Pop-pop, and Gramarie went to get peaches while Mom and I got a head-start on picking blueberries. After a bit they joined us. Pop-pop watched us from the front seat, now all smiles.]
Gramarie (to my dad): "You go ahead. I'll catch up."
Padre: "No, I'll stay with you and hold you up while you pick blueberries."
Gramarie: "No, I don't want to hold you back. I can catch up."
Padre: "You're not holding me back; I'm holding you up!"
[Gramarie worked on filling her pail and loved doing it. We paid for our pickings and headed for home]
Mom: "Did you have fun?"
Gramarie: "Yes! That was such fun! Just not long enough! We used to do this with Nanny and Aunt Anna. This was really fun."
I hope I get to do this with my kids and grandkids!
Gramarie: "Bill, did you have fun?"
Pop-pop: "Oh sure."
Gramarie: "How are we on gas?"

[After we got home, we sat on the deck and had ice cream with fresh blueberries.]
Gramarie: "That was a fun day! What a full day!"
Pop-pop: "Sure was!"
Gramarie: "Wow. We sure packed a lot in.... We went to the cemetery and the..."
Mom (interrupting): "You went where?"
Gramarie (incredulous): "The cemetery. Didn't we, Bill?"
Pop-pop: "Yes, of course we did."
Gramarie (to Padj): "We went to the cemetery! Don't you remember?!"
Padre: "I guess you must have gone by yourselves... or with someone else...."
Gramarie (to me): "You were with us, weren't you Anne?"
Me: "Do you mean to pick blueberries?"
Gramarie: "No. To the cem-e-tery."
Me: "Nope, I guess I wasn't here yet....."

Like I said, my parents are some of the most patient people in the world. Patience + good sense of humor = necessary skills for retaining sanity and composure!