One of the other things I have done recently to prepare myself for a year long stint in Korea is to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Howard. Though Grandpa is quite healthy and active still, despite the loss of a limb, Grandma is not doing so well these days. The doctors don't give her long to live (though she lived long past the kidney failure they predicted for her 2 1/2 years ago--at that point they had given her 6 mos.), so, just in case God should call her home before I return, I went to see her one last time. Afterall, it is unlikely that I would be able to make it home for a funeral given airfare these days. It wouldn't be practical. (It is sad that my family largely seeks practicality in these matters, but it is how it is.)
And so we sat together in her living room. She quizzed me about my upcoming year. I answered politely and quizzed her about her knew living situation. They now live in an assisted living community, though one of the best I have ever seen because it allows for their independence. She likes it there, though she doesn't make it out of the house she lives in too often to take part in the events they put on for the residents. We didn't talk about the possibility of her dying while I will be gone. She never likes to talk about sad things. (She won't even watch a movie unless it is a musical or a comedy of the old school a la Gene Kelly, which hardly ever made one feel awkward about what one was watching a la Will Ferrell). I did see a note on the refrigerator door however. A yellow note, which a small, printer paper picture of her. "In the event that I am unable to support my own life, I refuse all artificial forms of life support, including CPR and defibulators." In the picture, she is smiling.
