Family

This evening I finally went to visit my grandma in the hospital. She's doing really well, though she still has a little numbness in her left hand and face, which is to be expected after a stroke. Fortunately it was only a small blood clot, so she should recover well.

I'd never realized how stubborn my grandma is. Most of my memories of her involve my grandpa, who was such a strong personality she had to be the docile one in the relationship to balance him out. Well, now that he's been gone a good 8 years or so, she's had to do a lot without him. But I never took the time to notice. She was always the quiet one in the background at family events. Tonight, however, I was for the first time her wit and vivacity coming through. She didn't want to wait for the nurses to help her with anything. At one point she had her walker rocking back and forth raring to get out of the chair and couldn't wait another second until they came. The only reason she waited is the nurses got upset if she tried to walk without them, so she waited, but not patiently.

It was also good to talk with other members of my extended family. I hadn't seen some of them in years. At first I was hesitant to open up to any of them because I've never really had much in common with many members of my extended family. Our lives are so different, and sometimes it's hard for me to get past the differences. But I need to learn, because they are family, yes, but also because I need to learn to love people different than myself. And what better place to start than within my own family.