a day with *Mommy

i spent the entire afternoon with my grandmother. my uncle picked us up and drove us to Healthway. why? my grandmother hit her forehead on the tiled floor last night when she lost her balance. the minor accident gave her a humongous prune-like bump on her right forehead. it looked ugly, i tell you. when i got to her last night after the fall, she was sprawled on the floor wailing like a baby. it scared me to death when she took her hand off the bump. i almost fainted. remember the big bumps you see in cartoons that you thought were exaggerated? well, that was how Mommy's bump was! after giving her ice wrapped in wet cloth, i told her we should bring her to a hospital. it was obvious that a vein ruptured because of the size and color of the bump. there was clearly an internal bleeding. i was so scared of hemorrhage! but my uncle said that the fact that my grandmother was still thinking straight was good news. maybe she just needed to take a rest overnight.

but this afternoon we brought her to the clinic just to make sure she was really okay. although the bump resided from all the ice, her right eye was so swollen that you'd think she was involved in a boxing match! but instead of laughing you'd pity her because her right eye-lid was like a bag filled with purple blood. yes, that bad.

so while at the mall after my uncle left, we waited for the doctor together. we talked. the longest conversation i had with her since a long time. we got hungry after a while and ate our late lunch. she got teary-eyed while talking about my father and his brothers while they were growing up. i could tell that she was choking back tears. it was another side of my grandmother that i saw... she likes talking about the past but it makes her really emotional. we talked some more about her relatives and every little thing we could think of.

the good news is that she's going to be fine. the prune-like bruise isn't fatal or anything. she just needs a lot of rest and in a month the bruise will be gone.

i actually enjoyed hanging out with her and taking care of her while we waited for the doctor (for hours!). it made me feel good that i was there for her for her check-up and i was the one who had to walk as slowly as she did when getting to places. what made me feel even better was that we got to talk a lot longer than we used to and it looked like she truely, genuinely, enjoyed my company as much as i did with hers.

when i brought her home after quite a long afternoon (which didn't seem to be that long), she said: "Thank you, Gail" with a smile...

... and that was enough to make my day.

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*Mommy - don't be confused. Mommy is not my mother. I call my grandmother that because my father calls her that.