My sisters and I took a trip to Scottsvalley to visit our grandparents on the Hutchinson side of the family. They have not been doing very well healthwise, so we decided that it was time we saw them and visited with them while they are still able to do so. Grandma has diabetes pretty badly, and now bells palsy. Grandpa had a stroke a few months back and is just now learning how to walk again. We surprised them by coming. They had no idea we were coming, and we just decided to show up at their door. They thought we were a bunch of kids when we knocked and at first they didn't recognize us. But then they did, and oh they were so surprised! They couldn't believe we all 3 had come together. And they were also excited about the great grandkids!
Grandpa has lost so much weight, he is just skin and bones. One whole side of his body had no feeling in it after his stroke. Slowly, ever so slowly, the feeling has begun to come back. He goes to physical and occupational therapy to learn how to use his arms and legs again and how to do household activities again. His memory has faded, and he voiced through tears that he can't remember things that we did with him years ago. We started to think of memories, like Thousand Trails camping and such, and he started crying because he couldn't remember those things. His memory mostly consists of the current state he is in and the current things he is doing. He was so proud to show us how he could walk with a walker now from his wheelchair to his lazy boy chair. He did it at least 5 or 6 times in a row to show us. He was sooo proud. I think that it has really been hard for him to lose his ability to walk and do so many other things, that to be able to walk a few steps like that felt like a miracle to him. He broke down in tears numerous times. That is something that Grandpa would never ever do before. I never saw him cry. I can tell that he has been through a lot.
Their house looks exactly the same on the inside. It is decorated with all the exact same Indian and Native American decor that I remember from when I was a kid. Nothing has moved in that house. Every wall and shelf is exactly the same. That made me happy to see. It was like I went back 10 or 15 years in time because the house was the same. It felt nice. The outside is exactly the same too, minus Grandpa's beloved rose bushes that he could no longer care for. They were replaced with river rocks. But other than that, it felt just like Grandma & Grandpa's house from years ago.
We decided that short mini visits would be best for them, since things tire them easily anymore. So we visited them in the morning and the late afternoon on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of our weekend. They go to physical therapy on a bus and sometimes people are at their home doing therapy with them, so because they get so tired, they take a nap every day around noon. Grandpa starts getting ready for bed about 5pm, and it takes him about an hour to an hour and a half to change his clothes and get ready for bed. But, he can do it himself now, without any help. No matter how long it takes him, he is glad that he can do it himself now.
Grandpa told us that every day a little bit of feeling comes back to him. Every day he learns something new, is able to do something new that he had lost after his stroke. It gives him a renewed sense of motivation when everyday he finds that he can do one more thing. So we told him to keep working, keep practicing walking and doing all that he can, and it will come back. He told us that the next time we see him, he will be walking normally again. And of course he kept falling apart in tears as he was telling us all this. I have a renewed goal to keep in touch with them, to call them on the phone every week or so, and to make sure they know that I care about them and love them. I have so many wonderful fun memories of them in my childhood. They were very important people in my life as a kid, and my trip has reminded me how important they are to me even today. I love them very much. I am glad that Kaylee was able to meet her Great Grandma & Grandpa Hutchinson.
