Christmas with Grandma Gussy

Jared, Sophia and I headed to Grandma Gussy's annual Christmas party at the nursing home this week. We were joined by Gary and Nathan. This was the first time Sophia met her great grandma. Grandma Gussy is Jared's maternal grandma (Jan's mom). She has been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years now, and is pretty far gone. God has blessed her with a childlike mind in her illness, and she is in a good mood most of the time. (I know sometimes Alzheimer's patients become very cranky.) Anyways, an evening with Grandma always proves to be entertaining. Here is a snippet of a typical conversation...

Nathan: "Do you like your food, Grandma?"
Grandma, pointing her fork at Nathan accusingly, barks: "RED!" (Then she giggles)
Nathan: "What? Where is red? Here on my shirt?" (Pointing to his shirt)
Grandma: "Ooooooh! Where did you get him?"
Nathan: "Well, the red is stuck to me. It is on my shirt."
Grandma: "That's a baby."
Nathan: "There is a stripe of red across my shirt. See?"
Jared: "Nathan! 'Red' is looooong gone!"

One of the funniest memories from this evening was when Gary was praying. Grandma was eyeing his plate and caught site of a delicious pile of red cranberries. All of a sudden, her fork started meandering towards it, and she stole a huge forkful of his cranberries and munched happily on them during the remainder of the prayer. Then she smiled, almost as if she was pleased at how sneaky she had been. It was hilarious!











Nate and Grandma











Sophie and her daddy










I love this man so much. He's my honey.









Papa Nourse











Nathan! Steely blue eyes.










Nourse Family photo













Grandma Gussy and great-grand daughter Sophia











Jared and babe by the tree









Mommy and her little angel












Christmas party with Grandma Gussy