Pappaw Gets His Own Quilt & Only You Can Love Me This Way

Last week we made a visit to Grandma and Pappaw's house.  It was a scheduled family gathering.  We were all wanting to soak in some precious moments.  We needed to get inside their house, sit on the couch or at the table and absorb all we could.  Bask in their love.  Their love of each other, their love for us, their love of their friends who would walk in the front door.

Grandma started Round 2 of her chemo therapy last week.  She received her treatment on Tuesday.  Tuesday and Wednesday were good days.  But by Thursday the effects of the chemo were kicking in.    Friday she started running a temperature and later in the day we made a trip to the emergency room.  Her medicines were not quite strong enough, it was time to get the pain and the nausea under control.  Time to get a different game plan.  Time to quickly figure out why she was running a fever. 

So we all still sat around and absorbed the love of these two.  We just did it in a different location!  We lost the privacy, we had to share them with doctors, nurses, techs, housecleaning and food service.  A parade of scrub clad people coming in and out of the room.  It started with five long hours in the emergency room.  We took turns joining Pappaw by her bed side.   I anxiously awaited my turn as the rest of us sat in the waiting room for the next shift change.  Pappaw never left her side, he sat quietly in a chair next to her bed, rarely even changing the direction he had his legs crossed.  Holding her bag tightly in his lap he observed her as she slept.  Whispering, he would tell me that she was his before she even knew him, commenting on her beauty and her strength.  As he often does when he is silently praying, he would cover his face with his hands.  I nudged my chair closer to his and leaned my arm against his arm.  Shoulder to shoulder we would secretly lift our individual prayers to God.  I prayed for her fever to break and her pain to dissipate.

Later that night she was admitted to the hospital.  Into a nice, big, quiet room.  A room big enough for us all.  The perfect size for Grandma to gather her chicks all around her because we know how she likes to cover us with her wings.  Judy spent the first night with her, Katie the second and Pappaw the third.  There was an endless array of food choices.  We kept bringing her new things to try since hospital food is not to her liking!  And with her "free ticket" from the oncologist to eat carbs and sugars, we were having fun.  We could bring her muffins, soups with pasta and candy bars!

So, on to the story of these pictures...........

These last two months, Pappaw, was a tad jealous of Grandma's quilt. He admired it from a distance and wished he had his own. Grandma told me on the phone one day, after Pappaw had his stroke that he told her;  "I bet I'll be getting me my own quilt in the mail soon". Well....that's all it took for me to get my creativity wheels a spinnin'. Instantly I was thinking of colors, patterns and fabrics. I wanted to find some "man" fabrics. Nothing with flowers and nothing too geometric. I got on EBay and quickly found what I wanted. Jenean Morrison had a line of fabrics called Moondance that would work perfectly. I added some solids in coordinating colors and it turned out perfect. 

I gave it to him last Wednesday.   When I found him in the house that day, he was in his bed resting and watching television.   I gave him his quilt (that was wrapped in a plastic bag) and he snuggled it against his chest and breathed in the freshness of the fabrics.  We got it all spread out on the bed and he and Grandma laughed how he was covering HER side of the bed with his quilt and where would she put her own quilt now!  I had wanted to get pictures of them both with their quilts while sitting in their recliners, but when the game plan changed for the week, we had to move our picture taking session to the hospital room!  Pappaw was very obliging when I ask him to join Grandma in the bed for pictures.  We got her covered with her floral quilt then Pappaw crawled in the bed, quickly spreading his quilt out to cover most of Grandma's.  He said he needed to make sure that daughter, PATTI (pronounced Pat-TI)  could see HIS quilt in the pictures!

So after rearranging the quilts so each had equal visibility, I snapped a quick dozen pictures then put my camera away.  Pappaw stayed in the bed with her, I think he had been looking for an opportunity to take up some of that bed space!

Story time started as they nestled against each other. Reminiscing of the birth of their children, we heard a recounting of childbirths from Pappaw, with details thrown in from Grandma that only her great memory could retain!
The mood became light hearted and the room was filled with laughter as stories from the past were retold......

Grandma was wanting to go home the morning after her first night of this hospital stay.  She is on day four now.  A few minutes ago, she was told she would need a blood transfusion before she could be dismissed.   Maybe by Wednesday she can get back home to her own bed. 


Pappaw said a few weeks ago that he was tired of a table sitting between their two recliners.  He was ready for that table to go.  So we went shopping and found a love seat that dual reclines and has push button controls.  Come back in a couple of weeks after it gets specially ordered for the controls and delivered to see the story of their new setup!