For only the second time in 10 months of life, Av was subjected to the serene wonder that is Western Massachusetts last Sunday- forced to endure the three hour car ride down the Mass Pike and all the pleasantries that come from a day of visiting distant family.
Nearly all of my family members still live in the western part of the state, including my mother, who due to car troubles and general laziness has not seen the baby since spring. Just as important as visiting Grandma Mary was paying a visit to Great Grandma, my grandmother, who I have not seen since she moved to a nursing home this summer. So, with the holidays coming up and many a grandmother to visit, it was time to pack up the family for a day trip and make the rounds.
Av was extremely well behaved on the ride to The Pitt, as we planned it to take place simultaneously with her morning nap. Being in the car always helps extend the length of the naps and she pretty much slept straight through the trip. She arrived at my mother's house with great fanfare, as expected, and was presented with gifts almost as soon as she walked in the door.
I came inside and said hello to my mother, who informed me that my sister, Bethany, had taken their dog for a walk. I had completely forgotten that the family had obtained a new dog since the last time I was home, and I immediately had visions of Av dragging the poor thing around the house by its tail. Or punching him in the face like she does with our cats.
In the mean time, my father and his wife, Carol, came for a visit and the living room quickly filled up. He and Carol get out to Salem every few months and were over a few weeks ago to visit the baby, but wanted to stop over and see her while we were in town as they live about 45 minutes away. (At this point you are probably wondering how awkward it must be for my father and his wife to spend part of the morning at my mother and her boyfriend's home. Surprisingly, it is cordial and friendly. Almost no awkwardness at all).
In any event, my sister returned with the dog, who my mother described as a 'barker,' which both excited and confused the baby. The dog did bark, quite a bit actually, but it seemed to have little effect on Av.
The real highlight of the journey for me was heading up to visit my grandmother. She is in fairly good health for a 93-year-old woman, but does have trouble seeing and hearing, along with being a diabetic and a host of other ailments that are pretty much unavoidable when you are in your ninth decade of life. Up until a fall a few years ago she was still taking the bus downtown by herself and going for walks, but age finally caught up to her and it became too much for her to remain at home.
We walked in to the nursing home, which is located next door to the middle school that I attended, and met her in a small family visiting area in the lobby, as we did not want to subject Av to any potential transfer of disease in the nursing home hallways.
Having not seen Gram since April, I expected the worst when I walked in the room, but instead saw a rather healthy-looking woman with majestic white hair sitting in a chair waiting for me. (For my entire life my grandmother has dyed her hair brown, which usually came out looking pinkish, so seeing her with the silver locks was shocking). I walked over and gave her a kiss, at which point I realized she was having a very hard time making out who everyone was. She obviously knew my mother and sister, as they visit her often, and she knew me by my voice, but I am not really sure she even knew Monica (or 'what's her name' as she usually calls her) was even there.
I sat down next to her and noticed there was a sign on her walker that read in about 56 point font 'MARY. REMEMBER TO USE YOUR WALKER WHEN YOU ARE WALKING' clearly, and in typical Gram fashion, she had broken this rule many times.
We sat and visited for a bit which was nice, but I was disappointed in the lack of interaction between she and Av. Gram, obviously old and senile couldn't do much in the way of interacting with the baby, but whenever I tried to bring Av over she would just cry. It was sad for me only because I knew that Av would probably never remember Gram, and she would surely never get to spend the time with her that I did as a child. She will never taste her meatballs or pick flowers or stalk animals (like bears) in the field behind hr house.
We bid farewell to Gram, which was bittersweet because the visit was short, but at the same time you can only tolerate a nursing home for so long, and left for dinner. A few surprise relatives arrived with some second cousins and such and we ate dinner and departed. A fairly painless trip for me and the baby, not so much for Monica. Western Mass can be tough on a girl who grew up in Dedham, a town with no personality or open space. That is OK though. One day in The Pitt isn't much compared to the living hell that is holidays at her grandparent's house.
The trip home wasn't as smooth as Av had a few melt downs, but all-in-all it was a pretty successful mission. Everyone even left with gifts. Monica got a sweater for her birthday from my dad and my mom presented me with what I am referring to as the 'box of magic.' Two bottles of bourbon and two pint glasses lifted from the restaurant my uncle once owned right before it went out of business this summer. Thanks, Mom, you just got me through the holidays with that one.
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