I finally got to see my grandmother last week. She's 96 & still doing marvelously on her own (she's adamant about doing everything by herself, but I still managed to sneak in a bit of vacuuming & dishwashing--she actually complained at me several times, saying it was her job, but that she couldn't stop me!). It was a wonderful visit...yet sad in many ways as we were both aware this might be one of the last times I'll see her. She's been going through her possessions, trying to sort things out for us. She wanted me to try on a lot of her clothes--not to take with me, but so she could put my name on them for "when the end comes." She used to make a lot of her clothes, and ours, when we were young; and she still has a number of these. She's very small now--she was never tall but even before she got so stooped, she had shrunk significantly--and I'm a bit overweight for my height at 190--and though I warned her I wouldn't fit into much if anything, she kept begging me, saying, "If you see something you like, maybe you'll want to lose weight so you can fit into it." This wasn't meant as a dig, I think, but was said with a kind of wistful longing to know that someone else is going to enjoy her things. She gave me a book on the history of Keuka College (where my dad used to teach) & a complete Gilbert & Sullivan...she crocheted me a lap-shawl for reading on rainy days and a winter hat...she baked me cookies to take back to the airport. She's been going through her letters & said several times "I never knew I had so many friends," but always followed with something to the effect that "I'm the only one left now." Very beautiful & very sad....
Last night we went to my brother Dan's house to watch Nightmare Before Christmas with his girls (Sarah & Dinah, the older two, asked for me to come watch it with them). The power was out all night due to the storm...so we told ghost stories! I actually came up with one that worked pretty well, off the top of my head. One out of three ain't bad :) It was a lot of fun...spooky, in the dark, with flashlights & all that lightning!
It's going to be a very strange Halloween. Coming home from Colorado was even harder because Tino wasn't here...I've been sad for so long but this made it even worse...because I came home & the other cats said how glad they were to see me, & he wasn't here...
I'll be at the Virginia Library Association conference (for work, not pleasure) on Halloween itself...no chance to trick or treat with my nieces or see all the cool costumes...I don't know if it will be worse or better to be away from home when my little Halloween cat isn't here.
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