"great giggles"

mom, mary, justin and i returned from visiting nana yesterday for her 83rd birthday. she recently entered a nursing home and it seems to be the best place for her. between stomach issues and her incresing dimensia, she can't live alone any more. it's amazing how many services they offer from physical therapy to manicures, from a greenhouse to biweekly trips to the hair salon. what a comfort to all of us knowing that she is being taken care of like she needs to be.

i didn't know quite what to expect in going to see her. though she has been growing more and more forgetful, i was still struck at her lack of ability to retain information from one moment to the next. i wonder if it's frustrating for her to have such a terrible short term memory, or if she is even aware of it. she is however, aware of how she looks, as seen by her fixing her hair in the car mirror after lunch and not wanting to use her walker. these glimpses into the nana i remember, brought a smile to my face.

the title of this entry, "great giggles", came from our time with nana in her room after lunch. she seemed to be more comfortable with less people around, and she seemed to be remembering us a bit more, if that's possible. as we talked, she seemed to giggle at the littlest thing. if you've ever been a situation where someone is ill and things are a bit awkward at times, when that person starts laughing, you can't help but laugh too. we all laughed about all kinds of things. but then we told her that i was going to have a baby. "oh really?" she asked, though she's been told this multiple times. i confirmed and then asked her what she thought it would be, a boy or girl. she hesitated and i didn't think she was going to respond, or if she waited too long, she might forget the question i asked. but she surprised us all and after a moment or so said, "make it a boy." i told her that she was going to be a great-nana when this baby comes. but after all her laughter, we told her we were going to call her "giggles" and the new baby...well he/she will just have to call her "great giggles".