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She is 83 years young, lives alone, drives her car, pays her bills and will give you her idea on any subject if you want to know...or if you don't want to know. She goes to the beauty shop every week and Wal-Mart has her listed as a frequent flyer. The local mechanic calls her to tell her it's time for an oil change or check up on her little Malibu. She is five feet of pure energy.
She "works" four nights a week. She basically gets paid to sleep. She stays with an alert, oriented, partially blind 102 year old lady. When she is with her, she is the youngster! She and the lady have a good time talking about everyone in their little town, she reads the newspaper to her and they make quilts. The family wants someone to be with her at night in case she needs to get up. Very seldom does this happen. They stay up and watch the 11 O'Clock news and maybe Leno or Letterman before going to sleep. Thenext morning the 83 year old lady goes home and "does her own thing". What a hoot! Another lady who is just a kid at 73 stays the next four nights and thus is the rotation schedule.
Wednesday night something happened. The 83 y/o lady went to the laundry room to get some food to put out for the cat. She stayed longer than the 102 y/o thought she should. She called for her and then went to see why she hadn't come back. She was lying in the floor and not talking like she should. 102 y/o has a "panic button" and she pressed it. Within a few minutes the EMS had arrive and wisked the 83 y/o off to the hospital. Her son and daug-in-law got the call that she had fallen and hurt her arm.
Upon arrival it was evident that she fell because she had suffered a massive heart attack. The kind that you usually don't survive. The kind the medical folks refer to as the "Widdow Maker" because it usually occurs in men and they don't survive. She was taken to the cardiac cath lab where a wonderfully trained cardiac surgeon placed a balloon in the big artery that goes down the back of the heart and is the main supplier of oxygen rich blood. It was 100 % occluded. Her left arm was broken just below the shoulder. She is left handed. Bummer. The broken arm was way down the list of important things to take care of at the moment.
She was doing ok...but not great. Tonight the doctor was able to go in and place three stents into this heart that has been beating for 83 years. She had bought some time and became strong enough to endure the second surgery.
He came out and talked to her son and daug/in/law. What an amazing women, he said. What a strong heart she has. What he didn't know was that it is a heart full of love for her family and those people she holds dear. It was a heart that has been broken at the loss of loved ones but mended by love and faith. It was a heart that has been overjoyed at the birth of grand children and three great grand daughters. It was a heart that continues to beat because she is strong, stubborn, opinionated and tries to hide the soft spot that she doesn't want anyone know is there.
I truly love this lady. I am the daughter she didn't have to give birth to. I married her only child. She has never called me anything but her daughter.
I am thankful I have my Mother-in-love around for some more time. We are already planning on vacation in July and she just has to be there to walk on the beach with us and hold the bag for the shells that are the treasures from the ocean.
I cannot imagine her not being here.
She taught me to crochet, cook chocolate pies and banana pudding from scratch. She allowed me to be her son's wife and never made a comment about my skills...or lack of them...at being a wife, housekeeper and mother.
I am thankful she is a survivor of what could have been another story.
As soon as she is better I'm going to tell her that was one mean April Fool's joke to pull on us!
Then I'll give her a hug.
Mz Scarlett...thankful, oh so thankful!
