April's Real Blog

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Pix, rings, and love

While I was @ Gramps and Iris's place 4 that visit I've been telling U abt, Iris put Gramps 2 bed (sumhow). As she was tucking him in, I sed, "I try 2 cheer him up. I bring Dixie 2 C him, and I practice my guitar..." Iris was all, "I know--and he enjoys yr visits so much. But he drifts in2 the past now. He remembers how things USED 2 B." B4 I had the chance 2 ask how she knows that, since there is no way he can say all that, I got distracted cuz Iris was like, "I put a picture of yr grandmother on his bedside table." I was like, "U did?" Then, she sed, "It seems 2 cheer him up." I went, "Iris... it looks so strange! I mean--Grandma Marian died! U're his wife now!" And Iris sed, "Yes..." Then she put one hand on my back, kinda motioning me 2 the bedroom door 2 leave the room, and she sed, "This isn't abt the ring on my finger, dear... It's the love I have in my heart."

Sad, eh? :(

Apes

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posted by April Patterson @ 6:17 AM  

13 Comments:

  • At 12:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    april, “sad” iz 1 way 2 call this biz w/ur step-g-mom & ur grandpa jim. i have sum othah wordz 4 it, like “whacked”. like wen we were watchin’ hockey & u can tell ur grandpa iz n2 it, evn tho he prolly hazn’t watched a hockey game in years. (thass 1 of thoze things i gotta ask u ‘bout sum day, this biz of no hockey frum ur mom & all that stuff ‘bout team sports.) neway, then iris starts on ‘bout how jim is rememberin’ sum old hockey game frum the past w/dit clapper & gordie howe. i may not b able 2 read mindz like ur step-g-mom, but i cud tell wen ur grandpa wud say, “boxcar” the same time u & me were yellin’ or cheerin’, he wuzn’t watchin’ ne old hockey game in his head. & all thoze old pics of ur dead g-mom were kinda freakin’ me out.

     

  • At 12:30 PM, Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said…

    Well, it might be a sad thing to contemplate but your grandfather might just end up in Sunset Manor in the next few weeks. Another sad fact you'll have to steel youself into enduring is that your friends and family has been prepared for this longer than you have. Expect to endure a lot of snippy people muttering about how long it took you to get with the program.

     

  • At 12:49 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    April,

    Formerly little sis. Don’t listen to the supervillain Amazon catfish and this talk of Sunset Manor. While it is established that Grandpa Jim will eventually get there, he still has one important task to accomplish before he goes there and is forgotten forever—he must attend the Lizardbreath’s wedding. I know that some people might think that Grandpa Jim could still come to Liz’s wedding after he has gone to the Sunset Manor; but let’s not fool ourselves. Once Grandpa Jim is there, he will disappear from our hearts and minds, just the way those people I used to know that lived in Aberdeen did when they moved into their Assisted Living Centre. What were their names again? I can’t remember. Obviously, Grandpa Jim can’t move until after the Lizardbreath’s wedding or people would say, “Who’s that old person?” Nobody wants that to happen, especially if the person saying it is Liz.

    Love,
    Michael Patterson

     

  • At 3:47 PM, Blogger April Patterson said…

    mike, in case u haven't noticed, liz already sez that abt gramps!

    jeremy, mike mite actually b a better choice 2 ask abt mom and hockey/team sports. mike useta play hockey when he was a kid, and mom even wd go 2 the games and cheer 4 him. i m not sure y she changed. mike mite know.

    apes

     

  • At 4:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    April,

    I really hope Grandpa Jack doesn't forget who Irene is totally, then he might try to kick Irene out and make Mom take care of him instead, and I need her to be free for my wedding planning, which I have received word from the Good Witch will finally happen sometime before the end of September, now, after September, he can go bonkers for all I care, I'll be married.

    Liz

     

  • At 5:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Jeremy,

    I am so looking forward to when you and April come back to babysit my children. Our prior baby-sitter left some oil stains which need to be cleaned up.

    As for your question why my mother has changed her opinion of team sports, the answer is simple: April’s uniform. Normally mom wouldn’t pay attention to much of anything going on in senior secondary school except for her bi-annual trip to the parent school meeting, which I think she stopped doing once April turned 16. However, the cost and expense of the uniform aroused her attention and her ire. She went to R.P. Boire Senior Secondary School when April started the ninth grade to complain about the expense of having to buy a new uniform every year, since April outgrew (i.e. got fatter) her prior uniform from Grade 8. Well, mom was in for an eye-opening sight. There's a police officer in residence, and the canine unit patrols the hallway on occasion. Mom was convinced April was going to what amounted to be a prison, and not the same nice school which her older children had attended.

    She was talked down by the school psychiatrist, who explained to mom that the school adopted their uniform policy to try to combat the wildness of teenagers. The psychiatrist told mom that most parents forget that their teenagers are basically primates oftentimes with worse manners than most monkeys, and penning up thousands of pubescent ape-like creatures in one location for six hours a day has a kind of psychological effect, like team sports, which combines war, physical contact and food. This explanation spoke to mom, so she understood the necessity of the school uniform; although it did have the side effect that ever since then, mom has been opposed to team sports, even hockey. It’s probably never come up before, since April has never been interested in sports and is probably too uncoordinated to make any of the teams, judging from those internet videos of her cheerleading audition from some months ago. I can still play those and get a good laugh.

    I hope that answers your question, and see you tonight for a little baby-sitting and oil cleanup.

    Love,
    Michael Patterson

     

  • At 6:09 PM, Blogger April Patterson said…

    i didn't "get fatter" betw grade 8 and grade 9, mike, u freak! i got TALLER!

    we r not babysitting 2nite, mike. since u didn't give me adequate notice, i m writing this from toronto.

    apes

     

  • At 7:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    april, yr we doin’ this? this haz gotta b the weirdest trip evah. we r w/eva & her current bf the silhouette of duncan anderson, tryin’ 2 rescue the real duncan anderson frum zandra larson’s roommate, zenia parkinson @trinity college in the UofT. i don’t think he’s evn here in canada, much less @trinity. not only that, but i like his silhouette bettah than him.

     

  • At 7:36 PM, Blogger howard said…

    April,

    It was disquieting to read you latest blog entry about your conversation with Iris, especially the part where she said, "This isn't about the ring on my finger, dear... It's the love I have in my heart." As you know, and I know, and certainly anyone familiar with the town of Milborough knows; married Milborough people do not wear wedding rings. Anyone looking carefully at your mother, father, brother or sister-in-law’s fingers can tell this is the case. So, when Iris was talking about the ring on her finger; she was clearly talking about her first marriage to George Reid, where they lived in Barrie, Ontario; a place where married people do wear their wedding rings, from what I understand.

    I am sure Iris enjoys your visits, April, but she is 81 years old and she drifts into the past now. She remembers how things USED to be, when she wore a wedding ring. Her behaviour may seem a little strange to you, what with putting up old pictures of your deceased grandmother and rambling on about this thing or that thing about your grandfather, which she could not possibly know; but you should remember that most of the time, she is quite lucid and knows what is going on. She’s a great old lady, and I don’t think it is too difficult to overlook a few of her eccentricities in getting older. I’m sure you agree.

    Love,
    Howard Bunt

     

  • At 7:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    april, i am not gonna climb up there & n2 that dorm room window. silhouette duncan can do it. what do u mean he duzn't have enuff substance 2 do it? how much substance duz a silhouette need?

     

  • At 8:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    april, ok. i'm not doin' that again. i think i hurt my back.

     

  • At 8:49 PM, Blogger April Patterson said…

    omg, jeremy, i m so sorry abt what zenia just did! r u ok? and i heard her yelling @ u that she is all dun w/duncan anderson, but how can we believe her? zandra sez she can't really b trusted.

    apes

     

  • At 12:45 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    april, well mom sez it's just a back strain & az usual she sez, "thanx 4 not puttin' me in hospital". i know she sez that every tyme we come back frum goin' out, but this tyme i think she meant it.

    also, thanx 4 keepin' it under control wen eva offered 2 do that nigerian back rub thing, while we were drivin' back frum TO. i know u have back rub issuez frum ur 'rents, so u were rilly cube 'bout it.

     

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