My sister, Grandma & Kiwi

My Grandma Gaskins is 85. She has had a tough year medically. She travelled to the desert to ride a mule down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with my "little" sister.

Grandma came & spent the night at my house one night. She also got to go to my daughters classroom & meet the students. As they left all of the kids either waved to grandma, said bye or gave her a thumbs up. She, of course, ate it all up. She enjoyed playing "Chutes and Ladders" with the oldest. As well as reading a short story to the kids & helping my oldest with her "homework".

The next day my husband took Elizabeth to school & Grandma, Char & I picked her up. Then we drove to my moms & spent a little time with Grandma & Bill & headed home.

This Friday past, I got to see my sister. Her & Grandma did NOT get to ride the mules. :-( Grandma had too many medical conditions, not to mention that she didn't realize the mules backs would be over her head. I, like many others, tend to think mules are donkeys. That is not the case. Grandma & Crissy, my sister, did get to see the both sunset & sunrise in the canyon before the unthinkable happened. By unthinkable, I mean the most threatening thing that can happen to an elderly person. Grandma fell as they were boarding the bus. I'm not clear on how it happened but it did. She went down HARD. She had a gooseegg on her forehead, numerous scrapes & she ruined the lenses of her glasses. Grandma, whom I will refer to as GiGi from now on, is on a blood thinner called cumadin. Due to her age & the bump on her forehead, the staff at the Grand Canyon sent her by ground ambulance to Flagstaff for either an MRI or a catscan. I honestly don't remember which. It showed that there was no bleeding in the brain, which is what their concern was. It did reveal that sometime she has had a minor stroke. At age 85 with her medical history, it came as no real surprise.

She looked like she had been beaten to a pulp when I saw her Friday. I took no photos of her other than those which she asked me to take. Those were with Charlotte.

My sister had me take pictures with the kids & my parents. My Dad took the one of us with Kiwi.

I only got to see her a few short hours, but I enjoyed watching her interact with my children.