On My Refrigerator

Last year in my birthday card from my grandparents was this picture. It’s been on my fridge since then.

On the back, in my grandpa’s highly distinguishable elegant handwriting is written:
“July – 1989 – Denver
Grandpa and Gretchen;
All packed up and ready to go to the ranch in Oregon and set things up for a family vacation.”

Grandma and Grandpa were actually leaving Denver (this was in front of our house) to go to my Grandpa’s ranch. I didn’t go until it was ready for our camping trip/vacation up there.

It’s 1989…ya think? I don’t even know if you can tell how “80s” my outfit is. My grandpa has a way of making each of us grandkids feel like we were his favorite. Only I know it was true.

I think my favorite birthday card was back when my grandma still had her eyesight. They are so different! Grandpa is poetic and romantic. Grandma is so matter of fact and to the point. In this particular birthday card, Grandpa’s writing with his signature fountain pen took up the whole blank side of the card…quoting verses he thought of when he thinks of me…telling me how much they pray for me…telling me how much they’re proud of me. Then in small delicate handwriting, in whatever space was left, Grandma wrote: “You know I love you. -Grandma” It always makes me laugh because I can see her eyes rolling after reading Grandpa’s and them laughing together.

My grandpa suffered a stroke on Knut’s birthday…last Thursday. He woke up to go to the bathroom and found his legs didn’t work. He woke up Grandma, and she called the nurse at their assisted living apartment, and the nurse called 911. Grandpa was transferred to a ICU.

He did not get a clot in his brain as we traditionally think of when we hear the word “stroke” but his brain is bleeding. I’m told through family that the good news is this type of stroke can often have a full recovery. The bad news is there isn’t an awful lot they can do besides wait for the bleeding to stop on it’s own. After my mom visited them today, I’m told that his brain has not stopped bleeding, and the brain scans yesterday showed something like 12 segments of the brain bleeding and today the brain scans showed something like 15 segments of the brain bleeding…whatever that means.

The day of the stoke his speech was slower, his legs and the left side of his body didn’t work so well, but he was in good spirits. Today he was moved out of ICU and into a regular hospital room as long as a family member was with him 24/7, which has been arranged. He seemed a bit more disoriented and kept asking to go home, or to go to the bathroom, which of course, he couldn’t do either. He tried to get up on his own, which forced the hospital staff to tie him to the bed. This, I’m told is frustrating him to no end. This is not good, because the frustration can increase his blood pressure and increased blood pressure can mean increased bleeding.

The hope is that the bleeding will stop, and Grandpa can move into the nursing home next to their assisted living apartment for occupational therapy. I don’t think they’ll move him though, until his brain is more stable.

My grandpa is so precious to me. When my parents divorced, my grandparents moved in and helped out my mom while she went back to work and back to college. I’ll never forget those 2 years. Then, when my family moved and we didn’t go to a Lutheran Brethren church in Phoenix, my mom still wanted me to study confirmation. So many many weekends throughout jr. high I spent at my grandparent’s house, studying theology with my grandpa one on one. I could talk to him about anything–nothing was ever off the table. He’s a retired LB pastor and missionary, church planting both in Japan and stateside. He officiated over Knut and my wedding. We named our son David after him.

So I guess I’m asking for continued prayer for him as he’s in the hospital. Pray the bleeding will stop, and that he can regain some orientation of what is going on. Pray that he’ll become stable enough…down the road, to move closer to Grandma. Pray for my Grandma too. My mom says this is all starting to sink in with her, and it’s hard. Grandpa turned 87 last week. It’s so very hard to live apart from my family at times like this.