Discolor Online

I got to see my grandma last weekend. She refers to her brush with death in 2006, where she fell into a coma and wasn't expected to live as "my little incident" and still seems as spunky and feisty as ever. She's 81 now and is definitely feeling like she's used up her nine lives and is on the last one. She brought some things with her to give to us, saying she figures "it's about time." Her kidneys are failing and they've prepped her to begin dialysis soon and she's only able to get around using a walker. When she told her doctors she wants to live another seven or eight years to keep her husband Al company, they told her they'd see if they could get her a couple. Even so, seeing flashes of her being as spirited as ever, I told her I don't believe any of it, she's simply too ornery to die (which made her giggle). She insisted on giving me her pearls ("They're real!" she assured me) and handing off to Kate her two favorite stuffed animals (Mrs. Mouse and Mrs. Frog).

Getting all four of we ladies together I was reminded again of what a feisty female clan we are. Kate was old enough to be in the thick of things, sitting in the kitchen with the ladies (and the cool, intelligent men) and letting the drunken cowboys do their thing with fire and meat. I got grandma playing Walk the Plank and while she complained that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, she was beating the pants off the rest of us all while wickedly pretending she was an innocent old lady who didn't know what to make of these new fangled games.

Two years ago I posted this similar photo, where Kate is a bit smaller. She's taller than her great-grandma now and getting close to surpassing her grandma to boot. It's always on my mind that this could be the last time, but I thought that two years ago and I rather hope to be thinking it another two years from now.