My grandma. I know I shouldn't laugh but.........

I think it's better to laugh or I might cry Eloethan (I'm sure you know what I mean). I always try to remember what she was. Her wit and humor. Her strength and the way she could make everything better with just a cuddle and some soothing words. It almost seems like our roles have become reversed and she looks to me for assurance.

I very much doubt I will be around at 99 Stansgran and I really wouldn't want to saddle my DGC with the responsibility of looking after me either.

Thank you harrigran I absolutely love flowers.

X

gillybob I can relate to several of the things that you mention. Sometimes I find it difficult to laugh about them though - your kindly good humour is admirable.

gillybob for you and for your grandma even though they will stink

Do you know Gillybob ,I think your DGC will be saying the same about you at 99.

She is marvelous AshTree I consider myself very fortunate indeed to have always had her in my life.

How very funny you should say that rosequartz my mum took her some lovely flowers last week. They were literally stuffed into a vase so I took them out into the kitchen to rearrange them properly. "There" I said "that's better now isn't it? They look lovely" "well" said grandma " to be honest I couldn't see them anyway....... But I knew they were there alright because they stink"

My DGP had all died by the time I was 6, although I had lots of lovely aunts and uncles.
I only have a vague memory of one DGF, sitting in his old leather armchair.

So make the most of her while she is still with you.
Here are some for her - although she may complain that they make her sneeze and now she has developed hay fever!

Your gran sounds absolutely marvellous gillybob - how anyone could describe her as 'unpleasant' beats me. I would love to have had grandparents that provided me with so many fond memories. One GM died when I was 5 and at about that time we moved away, so after that I rarely saw my other GM who'd lived nearby. She died when I was 7. I never knew either of my GF's, one having died several years before I was born. The other one, by all accounts, was a 'bad lot', and deserted my GM when my DF was just a child.
So lucky you to have had this amazing, feisty woman in your life for so many years.

Perhaps we should start practising just in case:

www.luvzbluez.com/purple.html

She sounds like an absolute treasure gillybob, you are very lucky! What wonderful memories you have!
I didn't have any kind of relationship with my paternal grandparents and my maternal grandfather was a distant figure who didn't like children (my mum's mother died when mum was 6), so quite !

Thank you all for your good wishes and lovely comments.

You are right Marelli I love her to bits and I would feel empty without her in my life. I do to take her criticism and awkwardness in the best of humor although I am not frightened to tell her off when needs be.

I do hope she lives to get her telegram rosequartz she is in good spirits at the moment and doing quite well considering she will be 99 at the beginning of September. You are right she is a real character and small piece of living history.

Petra and elena At 99 My grandma is without doubt suffering from a degree of dementia. We are a very small family and she relies on me for most things. She loses sleep when she hasn't seen me for a day or two. She can be childish and yes she pretends to have illnesses that she clearly doesn't. On the other hand she has lived for 99 years. She worked hard until she was well into her 70's and nursed a very sick husband. She buried her only two boys (my uncles) in their early 50's and her only daughter (my mum) is in much worse health than grandma is. When we were children she was the nicest most loving grandma I could have ever had , we were almost never away from her house. Infact almost every happy childhood memory I have involves my grandma.
Anyway let's face it most of us won't live to be 99 !

We almost always have afternoon tea together on a Friday, compete with cakes and sandwiches (the tea has to be poured from a tea pot ) and the way she was chatting away about the election and various things in the news I think perhaps she could go on for another 10 years !

I think they are all fantastic, but I do admire those of you who are coping so compassionately and with such humour and affection. Thank you for sharing your stories with us!

A cousin of OH has just been in , her 103 mother died recently , the old lady did all those annoying forgetful things and her family took it in turns to look out for her , she said sometimes if they didn't laugh it would have ended in tears . The rally old don't mean to be so much trouble but are so aware of how little time left they get fearful and do anything to keep us on our toes

Personally I think anyone who reaches such a marvellous age should be allowed to be as feisty as they like!
When you consider what they've lived through I think that's the least they deserve!

My DM is delightfully eccentric and exasperating, my dear dad at 91 as wry as ever and, as roseq says, they both know how to pull the strings.

I think some posters sound quite unpleasant themselves, frankly, and that your DGM sounds like a real character.

Hope she manages to get her telegram from HM (will HM send a telegram to Philip if he gets to 100 I wonder?)

It doesn't sound like bad behaviour, it just sounds as if she still has all her wits about her and knows how to pull the strings!!!
And you all know how to handle her!

I think your grandma sounds just wonderful, gillybob. I'm still tittering away at the thought of her saying that she can't talk anymore.
And yes, I think she IS a character! I know how much you do for her, and that it's not always easy to juggle everything that you have to do, but you love her, so you do it with good grace.
I don't think your old grandma sounds 'unpleasant' - I think she sounds a cracker of an old lady!

Totally agree with, elena. My dear sweet MIL went blind in later life and did everything in her power to try and hide it. To tell everyone that your almost blind is disgraceful at any age. No excuse that she's 99.

Like GillT my grandmother had everything going -including Prostate cancer.....the only time she ever went to hospital was with a broken wrist. She was a tiny, skinny little lady, fit as a flea and lived to 92.
Bless them all (and carry on smiling with gritted teeth) x

In defense of those that suddenly become blind, deaf etc.
My hearing was getting poor in certain situations, but I thought it was OK most of the time. Recently been fitted with hearing aids, NOW without them I feel really deaf. I guess my brain has now got used to a higher volume level in the upper frequencies, so if I don;t wear them I appear more deaf that I remember.

That reminded me of my old boss Galen he used to talk about people having an attack of 'plumbem pendulitis'.......... swinging the lead

Sounds like my mother, if you mentioned an illness she'd either had it, got it, or knew someone who'd died of it.
This included Von Finkelheind syndrome ( my invention) it gave you a blinding headache every time you had a wee!
She'd had a bad attack of it only the week before!

The comments about other peoples illnesses reminds me so much of my exdh, especially the headache/brain tumor Pogs

I had a cough, he had bronchitis, I had a cold, he had the 'flu. I think it was the bane of his life that he couldn't quite manage period pains.........

I think it's a good job you can laugh at her, because sorry to say it, she sounds a rather unpleasant old lady. I have relatives in their nineties in my family, and none of them are like that.

If any of them were like that, then none of us in the family would put up with it.

'What a character' - my a*

GillT57

Oh dear. That would drive me up the wall!
I am not sure I would be as tolerant.
I dont think that old people should pretend to be something they are not, and use advanced age to get away with it.
On the other hand, I am not 99, so what do I know.