Strength

My dad called me this afternoon. Although we typically have our father/daughter chats on Saturday or Sunday, it wasn't totally abnormal for him to call me during the week. He tends to get a little bored at the fire station and in turn calls the fam; it's always been this way. Today his voice was different though and I waited patiently for him to tell me whatever it was he had on his mind. I'm his little girl and he has a tough time telling me things he knows will hurt me. This is out of both protectiveness and concern. I tend to worry far more than is necessary and he usually waits until things have calmed down slightly before alarming me.

Today he calmly sighed "Grandma's in the hospital". I held back the tears (I'm supposed to be a grown up now, so I try my best to refrain from the automatic response of crying), "What happened?" Turns out it really isn't the horrific scenario I imagined. She "fainted" several times Monday night and ended up in the emergency room. After all was said and done she ended up being fitted with a pacemaker. Not totally serious, but certainly not something you want to hear on a Thursday afternoon, especially not when you have my Grams.

Now, let me tell you a bit about my amazing Grandmother. My dad summed it up pretty well today when he said, "You know Grandma, she's a tough cookie". Most of the time I describe her as the toughest chick I know. When I called her at the hospital today I joked with her about 86 being an exciting year (her birthday was just 10 days ago). Her response? "The exciting thing is that I'm still alive", totally tongue in cheek. While others in my family are often put off by my inappropriately timed jokes my Grams laughs along with me. She's one of the few people I know who can find the humor in almost every situation. Hell, the woman was lying in a hospital bed days after having a pacemaker put in joking with her granddaughter about whether it's better to "hang on" or "hang in there". She's unbelievable. She's inspirational. She is the epitome of strength.