A Picture Brings Back A Thousand Memories

Grandpa Chuck's house. The house we lived in, in Oklahoma City. "Kent" house. (On Kent Street).

Grandma Annie's old house (below). It looks like someone wanted to change the look, because it doesn't have any of the Victorian trim or windows, or the giant porch that wrapped all the way around the house. It's not even the same color. I was really disappointed to see that they changed it so much. This is the biggest house on the street and I was told that it was originally built for the mayor of Oklahoma City. It was beautiful in it's day. There are two large sets of staircases inside. One that goes up, and the other one that goes down the other side. (I guess you could go up or down both of them). I was also a little disappointed that all the bushes and trees had been cut down, only because I hoped it would look just like I had remembered it. I think the house used to be blue. There were trees and bushes everywhere, so much that we never stepped a foot in the back yard. The old truck isn't there, but as soon as I see Grandma Annie, I will ask her where it went.

But... the shaded sidewalk and chain link fence was very familiar. I can remember walking down this sidewalk with great grandpa Orval many times. When we were taking pictures of the house, a neighbor ran out of their house and into Grandma's old house. They were very suspicious of us walking around taking pictures of the house. The neighborhood is very shady... and so were the people giving us evil eyes from across the street. I don't blame them for being concerned, but I would have explained had I not been so afraid of them. Mom was across the street in the car waving her arms out the window, whisper/yelling "come on... lets go; people are coming!" So I snapped this last picture just before I ran across the street with Kristen on my heels and jumped in the car. I almost forgot to look both ways. Grandma Annie is doing really good. She was in a sitting position with her eyes open. She was answering all mom's questions correctly. Good news guys... she remembers all of our middle names and birth order. She had physical therapy this morning, which didn't make her very happy. She wanted to lay down and the girl wouldn't let her. She was very young and sweet, but told Grandma that she had to sit up and move her legs and stretch her lungs, so grandma pinched her because she wouldn't let her lay down. The girl didn't say anything, she just grinned but Francie and I saw it. It was just like she would do to us when we were little. She slid her hand up the girls arm and when she got to the back of her arm, she grabbed the "flabby part" and pinched. I guess it was just a threat because it didn't hurt her.
This is the bank that Grandma was pulling out of when she was broadsided by a pick-up with a trailer. Mom called this the "pineapple" bank. Can you believe they gave an old lady on her potential death bed a ticket? They are saying it's her fault.

All her nurses are so sweet, they treat her like she were their own grandma. To them she isn't just another sick old lady. They really care about her. Every one of them.

I will post pictures of Grandma Annie if I can get a good one of her awake. Last night we thought she was going. I had been struggling to hold it in all day, and then when she started to get confused I just lost it, and then everyone else followed. We were all sobbing out of control. Kristen blew so much snot her tissue blew out, we all were laughing and crying at the same time over that. Leave it to Kristen to make us all laugh at a time like this. She is doing so much better today, however, that they are moving her to a new room, out of the ICU. So I have to go because at this very moment they are moving her. I sure hope we have Internet in that room, since we haven't had it in her current room.