Oh, Grandpa:)

To know me you would also have to know my family. I will start with my Mother's Father. Growing up in a family where "Dad" was nothing more than a title. I became close to my Grandfather.
Grandpa really filled the void that I had in my heart, in a sense he was my Dad:) I have so many wonderful childhood memories with both my Grandma and Grandpa. However, I will leave those stories for another day.

Unfortunately my Grandpa has been able to do nothing more than lay in bed for the past 15 months. It has been hard to see him fade away day by day. Sometimes I wonder why he has to suffer like he is. However, I can also see the many marvelous blessings that have come because he is still here with us.
My Grandfather was never a talker, he always let my Grandmother do the talking and story telling. Grandpa may not have said much but I always could feel the deep love he has for me. He always called me "puddin" a silly nick name but to me I felt special. Now that Grandpa can't do much he has become a talker. I have really enjoyed this new experience. Sure it is hit and miss depending on the day if you will actually have a conversation with a coherent Grandpa. None the less I love to hear his voice even if he is in a whole other world than the rest of us, most of the time.
Sad to say, but he does say some pretty entertaining stuff. Like, one day he kept going on about how needed to close the hatch in his bed where all his pooh goes. (Mind you he is just in a regular hospital bed) the reason being because there were goblins down there biting his behind. I know that is kinda gross, but it got a laugh out of me to hear my Grandpa talk like that. I got to give it to him I think he is on to some kind of new invention. I mean really there has to be something better than diapers, right?
A few nights ago he shouted out in the middle of the night. "Can somebody come help me before it's too late?" I ran as fast as I could to see what had happened. Only to find him safe in bed pointing to the corner of the room. I asked him what was wrong and he said "Quick turn on the light, there are three little kids in that corner who are trying to rob me." I indulge him and turned on the light. He continued to say "well now they have gone because you are here!" Other times he goes on about how there are a bunch of ants on the ceiling, so I go around the room with a empty spray bottle to take care of those pesky ants for him.
Another common thing is how he believes he is in a trailer instead of his home. So he is always trying to get out of bed to hook up the trailer to his truck so he can go home. (He was a truck driver for 33 years)Other times he wants me to hook his bed to the truck so he can go home. Can you imagine the sight of that? A old man in his bed, bed hitched to the back of the truck being towed down the street? That makes me chuckle every time.

I know that I am not the only one with stories like these. I often wonder if elderly people kinda loose there mind so they don't have to live in reality thinking about how they are stuck in bed in pain all the time. I think that it is wonderful that my grandfather believes he went walking in the mountains this morning. That he went to work yesterday. That the troops he knew in the war drooped him off at home. That he was in Idaho a couple weeks ago. And come to find out he was going to visit me in jail two months ago. Why I was in jail I don't know? but hey, he was coming to visit me:)
If he is willing to play along with me I like to talk about all the journeys we have been on or are going to take. Like a safari to the deepest reaches of Africa. Or taking a dive in the ocean surrounded by dolphins. Or flying a plane around the world. Where ever we want to go we can go right from his bedroom and be back in time for supper:)
Most of the time he tells me I'm crazy, or he falls asleep on me. But I know that if I tell him stories he gets his mind off of what ever was troubling him and is able to relax.

One night I sang him a hymn. Families Can Be Together Forever. I can't sing well at all. But you know he stayed awake to hear me sing and never took his eyes off mine. It was such a touching moment. I knew that I was reaching Grandpa, My grandpa! I know he's still in there. And for a moment I felt like I was his "little puddin" again:)
I love my Grandpa so very much and I am so grateful for this time I have to spend with him:) A even sweeter picture is to see my little ones give him a hug and kiss. They love their "papa" too. (that is what they call him)