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Saturday, March 1, 2008

Grandma making biscuits






Last week, Luke and I went over to Grandma's house for dinner. She was diagnosed with Altzheimer's about 3 or 4 years ago. She still lives alone, but one of us goes over twice a day to give her medicines. They need to be locked or she will forget she took them and take them again. So, she has family over at least twice a day. We've noticed subtle and not-so-subtle changes, but thank the Lord that she still recognizes all of us and she's basically just like she's always been except she repeats all of her conversations literally seconds after she tells us something. She'll often forget if someone came earlier in the day, so we keep a communication notebook in the medicine box and we write down anything unusual.

My grandma has always made these kind of buttermilk biscuits. They are flat and crunchy and I just thought that's how everyone's biscuits tasted until I was given a tall, fluffy one. :) My grandma was born in 1930 and she and her brother and sister were raised my a single mom during the Depression. She's got the saddest but uplifting stories about being raised in such poverty. She's from the country and we've always noticed that she still says things like she heard them 60 or 70 years ago. For example, she calls everyone "you-nz" (sorry-I don't even know how to spell that). Like she will say "You-nz come back tomorrow, okay?". She has other words that we've always giggled about, because they are SO Grandma, ya know?

She always took us to church when we would go visit her and she still catches a ride on Sundays to the little Church of Christ church "over yonder" with one of her neighbor lady friends.

She sure does love her great-grandbabies. And her grandbabies... but I think having Ty, Harlan and Luke around is keeping her young acting. Just this week, Harlan had a cold so April let him hang out with Grandma while she ran to clean a house for someone. When April returned, Grandma was hysterically laughing to the Suite Life of Zak & Cody! She always kisses and hugs on all of us when we are there.

When Luke and I showed up to help her cook dinner, she was making fried pork chops, baked potatoes, macaroni and cheese, couple of other veggies, and buttermilk biscuits! With sweet tea, of course. I tried not to think about how many WW points I was about to consume and just enjoyed hanging out with Luke and my grandma!

I love the last picture of her and Luke. She's making a face after Luke found a worm in her ditch!

Do you know anyone with Alzheimer's? What were some of your favorite memories of you and your Grandma?

4 comments:

Megan said...

These are wonderful pictures of your Grandma baking her biscuits. She sounds like a very sweet grandma. My great-grandmother had alzeimer's so I now what you're going through.

Leigh Ann said...

Nothing like Grandma's cooking! My grandmother is the best cook ever! My grandfather had Alzheimer's and it is such a sad disease. My mom and grandmother took care of him at home as long as they could but were in the end forced to put him in a nursing home. I'm glad your grandma is not at that point. It sounds like ya'll are taking such good care of her and she is still able to enjoy some independence which is great. The saddest day was when they had to take my Papaw's car keys away from him. He didn't drive anymore anyway, but just having them was important to him. My mom and grandmother were scared he would drive and get lost or hurt, so they had to take them away. I have wonderful memories of him though, so kind and loved us so much. I'm rambing... Glad you shared the pics. I can tell she gets such joy from Luke by her expression!

MakeLifeDelicious.com said...

My grandma that just past away a few weeks ago had Alzheimer's. She was 90 years old. The past year or so she had gotten to where she did not know who anyone was anymore. We had a family reunion this past May to celebrate her 90th birthday and she did not recognize anyone. It was very hard for me to see my grandma that way and to have her not know who I was. I just had to remind myself that that was not really her anymore and when she got to heaven she would know exactly who I was. I choose remember my grandma as the amazing, loving, Christian woman that she was before this disease. It was very hard to loose her just a few short weeks ago, but I am rejoicing that she is at peace and with our Lord!
Thanks for sharing your grandmother's story.

Laurie M said...

Those biscuits look JUST like my Mamaw's biscuits. I didn't know anyone else made them like that! My favorite thing she makes for me is biscuits & COCOA gravy. I LOVE her chocolate gravy. If my kids go to visit (in Alabama) without me they always call and antagonize me when she makes it for them.

She has a deep southern accent and says stuff only a grandma could say...she calls us "yunguns" and says "perty" instead of pretty. I know we won't have her for many more years, but I'm thankful that she is a "young" 87 year old who lives alone and still drives, shops, etc.