March was a memorable month. I started the month with going with some friends from Bellevue to do some swinging aerobics. It was held in an old rundown church in a sketchy part of town, but we had fun. I was actually not super bad at it and it was fun. I'd do it again.
Monty and I flew to see his Dad for a weekend. We were there about 24 hours, but we knew we needed to see him because his health was declining. TJ and Dora were there taking care of him to help Maree out. It's a lot to take care of someone dying of cancer.
This is a picture of Monty in our tiny rental car for the trip. Rental cars are super expensive right now for some reason. During Covid rental car agencies sold a lot of their cars, so there is a shortage. See that moving van behind Monty...that was what we were going to get. It was cheaper than a car, but when we got there they said we could get this small Ford. We could never get this small of a car if the kids were there, but this was to get up to Logan and back. It worked. Thankfully we didn't crash because we wouldn't have survived!
Tini stays in bed all day, so we talked to him for bit and then while he slept we decided to clean out the Suburban in case Dora decides to go home at some point. A lot of the burden of taking car of Tini is falling on her and she's tired. I think TJ and Dora are going to get the Suburban when Tini dies, so it needed to get cleaned out if it was going to fit a baby car seat. This think was packed with 'Stuff" that Tini wanted to be sorted. We sorted through everything and found a lot of newspapers, hangers, water bottles, car cleaners, tennis shoe, church manuals...did I mention hangers! We wanted to drop it off at Goodwill, but you have to have an appointment to drop stuff off again because of COVID, so we just took it to the dump and emptied the back out. If Tini knew this he would have been mad, so I told Monty and TJ to just tell him we "took care of it". He didn't need to know it went to the dump! This is what we told him and he was glad we "Took Care of It". We also met up with Helene for dinner, but I didn't get any photos. After dinner we went and talked with her until about midnight and then had to drive back to Salt Lake. We only spent about an hour in our Hotel. I think we should have gotten our money back! But whatever, it was an expensive 30 minute nap.
The plus side was we got to see this cute guy again. He's getting super heavy!!
So I think it was in January that my 95 yr old Grandma tested positive for Covid. She had to be taken to another location while she had Covid and honestly I thought it would kill her. But, Grandma didn't even have a symptom. This woman had such a strong body. But only a few short months later, on March 29th my Mom called to let me know that my Grandma passed away. Thankfully my parents were with her. The home she was staying in called them to tell them she wasn't doing well and they drove up and were with her when she passed. I was SO happy she didn't pass away alone. When my Grandfather died my Dad was on his way, but didn't make it on time. Because I knew a day in advance I thought I'd be okay, but when I heard she had died I cried. I cried harder than I thought I would. I think because when my Grandma died so did a huge part of my childhood. I found it comforting to listen to the Beauty and the Beast sound track while I cried. These Lyrics from the song How Does a Moment Last Forever and Day in the Sun Were enlightening.
How Does a Moment Last Forever
Maybe some moments weren't so perfect Maybe some memories not so sweet But we have to know some bad times Or are lives are incomplete Then when the shadows overtake us Just when we feel all hope is gone We'll hear our song and know once more Our love lives on
Days in The Sun
How in the midst of all this sorrow
Can So much hope and love endure?
I was innocent and certain
Now I'm wiser but unsure
I can't go back into my childhood
These words really struck me as I feel like her death really took a part of me. I feel like when I was a child I had all the answers. Now I'm not so sure. Now I'm not as certain, but when I think about life I realize that some parts of life I wouldn't want to live over, but without those times the good times wouldn't have been as sweet. I had some sweet time with her, times that I will cherish always. However, I will say my hope that she is happily with my Grandpa made her passing bitter sweet. I have missed my Grandma for years, as she had dementia for too many years. Dementia took her long before her body gave in. The last time I saw her she had no idea who I was. I didn't want to see her after that. It was too painful. But, she was a beautiful part of my childhood and I love her to pieces because of those fun memories. I did write something In Family Search about her. Many of the memories I have of my grandmother and here is her obituary. Ivie Olsen Peterson
