Grandma

Molly and I smuggled popsicles to my Grandma at the nursing home again tonight. I carried my cooler in, and we found her dozing in her wheelchair. As soon as we entered the room, Molly requested her popsicle. They had held up pretty well, despite being left in the car while we shopped with an outside temperature over 100 degrees. Molly laughed a hearty, loud laugh while I offered bites to Grandma by touching the wet popsicle to her lips. Grandma's roommate sat stoically in front of her TV. Molly decided that Grandma needed to hold her (Grandma's) bear, and she retrieved it for her. I pried open Grandma's hand (she doesn't voluntarily open her hand to take objects anymore) and put the bear's neck in it. As we were finishing our treats, one of the resident wanderers found her way into the room and shut the door behind her. She nonchalantly made her way to one of the beds and curled up on it. I suggested to Molly that we sing. Not timid around my current audience, I sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Be Thou My Vision". As we sit, Molly asks me when Grandma is going to wake up. Since she has awakened prior to eating the popsicle, I ask Molly if she means when is Grandma going to talk and walk again. I tell her that will happen in heaven. She smiles and seems to happily accept this tidbit of truth. I prayed for Grandma, and in addition to my typical prayers of protection and God's presence, I, following the advice of our pastor to pray boldly, asked that miraculously Grandma would be healed of her dementia. I employed all of the faith I could muster and actually believed that God might just answer my prayer on the spot. Midway through the prayer, I opened an eye to see if anything was happening. Nope. I finished praying with a nevertheless grateful heart that God is in control no matter what. I pick up Molly, show her family pictures on the wall, and ask who each person is. Like usual, she shows a particular preference for my youngest cousin, Sarah, who is a lovely vocalist and appears very princess-like as she performs. We hug Grandma. During all of this, Molly is very go-with-the-flow. Nothing seems weird to her, and she loudly tells Grandma good-bye and reminds me to tell Grandma we love her.

Surprise Harvest

I didn't plant cantaloupes, but they came up from the seeds in my compost. This one didn't taste as delicious as the Sugar Queen I bought at the Farmer's Market, but it was good and sweet.

Heart-warming Adoption Story

My favorite type of books are memoirs. I love real-life stories from the author's perspective. Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting my Daughter by Jennifer Grant was my recent selection from booksneeze.com, a book review program through which I receive a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

The author allows the readers to follow the journey of adopting her daughter Mia from Guatemala. Grant and her husband already had three children when they set out to find the daughter that God wanted them to adopt. She warmly tells the history of her family pre-adoption. She seems like an easy-going, loving mother who cherishes the crazy moments of motherhood. The reader then follows her through the process of adopting Mia. Her tale is interesting, but not particularly gripping or emotional like other adoption memoirs I've read. Some of my favorite parts of the book were tales of Mia's adjusting to her new family. It was neat to get to know this little girl and her personality. I also was challenged by the needs of orphans world-wide as Grant shared statistics and anecdotes.
The story is shared chronologically with occasional flashbacks. Sometimes the author will launch into a long, detailed history of an event that seems out-of-place. At the end she ties it in, but it seems a little awkward. The author seems easy to relate to, and I enjoyed her personality as it was revealed in her writing. Overall, this was a pleasant, but not thrilling, read.

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