Hold On

My grandmother had a heart attack this weekend. No one knew it was a heart attack until tests were run later. In the last ten years, nanny has had two strokes and now two heart attacks. When her doctor recommended she move to a nursing home seven years ago, I'm sure he didn't think she had much longer. She did. This weekend, the hospital called my mom and her sister and told them to get there at 3am because they weren't sure she'd pull through the night. She did. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised. Pierette Woods is probably the strongest, most dignified woman I know.

She's a mother of seven: five boys and two girls. There were three kids in diapers at one time. That is strength.

She made three meals a day for her large family. At the time, this was the norm in society. Hard to believe. I can't even imagine peeling potatoes for nine people. That is strength.

Her third born, Kenny, died in a car accident at the age of seventeen. No mother should ever have to lose a child. That is strength.

Having none of your children, for various reasons, stay in the town that you live in after they finished high school. Possibly feeling abaondoned, though I'm sure that wasn't the case. That is strength.

Losing the love of your life, who you've known since you were three years old, to a long battle with cancer, and being able to carry on. That is strength.

Now, suffering with congestive heart failure for many years. It seems unlikely that she'll make it much longer. Though, it has seemed unlikely that she'd survive as long as she has. Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if she outlasted us all. But why would she want to?

The pain she's in now, compounded with the pain she's already endured. It would be easy to just let go. She keeps holding on. That is strength.