grandma comes to stay

This Christmas we were blessed to be able to host a visit from Kevin's mom.  She is currently staying in a group home for grandmas that a family runs out of their own residence.  It is licensed and she is well cared for but we thought it would be nicer to be with family for Christmas and I think...for the most part, she agreed. 

So with plenty of preparation, she arrived with Kevin directly at church for the Christmas Eve service.  She tends to wear out rather early in the day and he didn't want to give her the opportunity to say "no" to church. 

Afterwards, as is our custom, we got Chinese food on the way home.  She has adult onset diabetes so Kevin needed to give her a shot before all her meals.  The initial shot went smoothly, if only just a few minutes late.  She's supposed to have it before she eats but was quicker to tuck into her dinner than Kevin was with the syringe. 

With dinner finished, I offered to help her get into her pajamas but she made herself comfortable on the couch watching DVR'd episodes of Jeopardy and her son busily wrapping the last of the presents. 

Finally deciding she'd had enough, she wondered aloud if she should sleep on the couch.  I led her into the front room to show her the air bed Kevin had inflated and made up with warm flannel sheets and the racing T-shirt quilt she had made for him so long ago.  The huge smile that lit up her face made me genuinely thrilled.

Another tradition we have at Christmas is taking turns opening up the gifts.  That way everyone gets to see what everybody else got and it lasts a little longer.  Grandma did not have the patience for that.  She went along with it once or twice but soon opened her things one right after the other.  She got word finds, a cardigan, a blouse, a pair of slacks  and a stocking filled with odds and ends.

When Kevin was done cleaning up after lunch he asked her if she wanted to go home then or after dinner.  She decided she was ready and quickly put on her shoes, new cardigan, winter coat, grabbed her purse and marched out the front door.  All before her son had his shoes on. 

Although her shots at breakfast and lunch went along the same lines as the first one, she seems to have come through the whole visit none the worse for wear.  We would like her to come to stay for good but when Kevin asked her about it on the way home she said, "Not as long as I can stay on my own!"

Not sure what to think of that.