My First Blog Award

Oh my Gosh I am so excited....



I got my first blog award! Thank you so much to Cristi from Scrappin 5 Little Cupcakes!!! She gave my my very first blog award!!! I am so thank ful!

So I have to list three things I love about myself....

1. I am thoughtful and I go out of my way to help others.
2. I am creative and try to use my craft to put a smile on other's faces.
3. I have really pretty eyes.

It's not always easy to list things you love about yourself!

Now to post a picture that I love.


Meet my Grandma...her name is Edna. This picture was taken in 2007 when I went to visit her in Texas. My grandmother has alzheimers and at that point in time, she was getting quite advanced into it. It had already been many years since she could look at me and say my name and actively remember anything about me. I used to spend a lot of time with her growing up and even into my early adulthood. I had the chance to have her at my home for 6 weeks two years in a row and we spent a ton of time together. She would forget things and I would help her remember them and we would chuckle about it, but then sometimes she would pull out her photo albums and just cry because she knew one day soon enough she wasn't going to remember who we were. I told her that I would try to find a way to help her remember.

So skip forward about 6 more years, to 2007. I went to see her for a week. I knew it was going to be a challenge and I prepared myself ahead of time that there may not be any moment where she would know me, but I just wanted to spend some time with her one more time. Well it was a very tough week. She didn't remember me. She looked at me and acted toward me like I was someone special to her, but she couldn't remember me. It was so hard. All week I would give her a hug and tell her I loved her and she would mumble "yup, that's nice." to me. Ouch!

My aunt pretty much cared for her most of the time, as she lived with her and I noticed that she didn't really have time to spruce Grandma up. So about half way through the week I decided to take over on her hair in the morning, and I picked it out and made it look spiffy. Then I put some of my make up on her. I used to do this with some mentally retarded ladies I had worked with in the past, and it changed their behavior for the better each day. So on this day...my Grandma loved it. She seemed to enjoy me spiffing her up, and all day everywhere we went I would catch her looking at herself and fluffing her hair and smiling. I saw a spark in her that day that I hadn't seen in years.

That night, just before bed, I went into the room she was sleeping in and crawled into bed with her. I looked her in the eyes and said "I love you Grandma" and she looked me in the eyes and said "I love you too." That was the one moment I wished and hoped for that she could connect with me and I would know that she knew who I was. I know I won't get a moment like that ever again. She took a turn for the worst after that visit and has been in a nursing home since. Just the sight of her pictures these days makes me cry instantly because she no longer looks like my grandma. But I have this one picture, of the day when we shared our last moment together, and it means the world to me.

Damn, I am crying now. Anyway....

Onto the next part...I get to choose 5 to receive this award.

I am choosing:

Trish
Momo
Sandra
Lin
Linda

The rules in accepting this award are:

1. You must thank the person who passed it on to you.

2. Copy award to your blog.

3. List three things you love about yourself.

4. Post a picture that you love on your blog.

5. Pass this award on to five others.