Thanks Grandma

Last night I blew off institute (again). And it was the best decision I’ve made for myself all week.

As you can tell from my last post, I haven’t been the most pleasant person lately. I decided yesterday morning as I was waking up too early (too early is when I make most of my decisions) that even though I should go to institute, I wanted to visit Grandma Durham instead. How and when visiting Grandma Durham shifted from the “should” column to the “want to” column I’m not sure, but I was looking forward to it.

Coincidentally, she called yesterday morning to ask how my dad was (she likes to call me every once in awhile to talk about various family members and her concern for them). I asked if I could come visit her around six o’clock. I certainly wasn’t expecting dinner, but she felt compelled to make me something. So she asked if I wanted to split a Lean Cuisine with her. I laughed and told her that would be just fine.

When I walked into her house she had two plates on her kitchen table. It looked like we were splitting some yams too. And some parsnips. And applesauce. As soon as dinner was ready she said, “What we’re going to do is pretend we said a prayer and then go in my bedroom and watch political coverage of the Florida primary. I am HOOKED on all this political stuff.” I love how Grandma is obsessed with the presidential campaign. When she took me to breakfast for my birthday she gave me a rundown of the candidates and how she felt about each one of them.

So we went into her room and sat on her bed.

“Do you like Keith Olbermann?” she asked,
“You know what, I don’t have cable so I haven’t watched much of him but he seems pretty intelligent.” She then added…
“I love Keith Olbermann. I think he’s handsome too, but he talks too fast.”

We watched some MSNBC and some Seinfeld. Then we talked about President Hinckley and how he used to be her stake president. She told me about the article written about him in the Deseret News since she knows I don’t get the paper. I had a really nice time with her. She scratched my back and played with my hair. There’s nothing like a Grandma to give you unconditional love and pampering. Of course I had to answer a series of questions:

“Who shovels your walks?”
"How many girls live with you?"
“Is your neighborhood safe?”
“Do you lock your door?”
“Do you turn on a light at night?”
“Are you worried about Lisa?”
“Are you worried about Josh?”
“Are you worried about Jack?”

Once I answered everything to her satisfaction I got up from her bed to leave. As we walked to the door she tried to give me things.

“Do you need any clothes?”
“No.”
“Does Lisa need any clothes?”
“No.”
“I have this jacket here.”
“Yeah, it’s not really my style Grandma, but thank you.”
“Would Lisa like…”
“It’s not Lisa’s style either.”
“Look at the fabric on the inside; you can wear it either way.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” She finally admitted,
“The inside is even worse isn’t it.”
“Yes it is.”

“Do you need any perfume?”
“NO.”
“Can I get you a glass of water?” At this point we’re standing at her kitchen table.
“What about a candle?” she laughed, as she pointed to the candles sitting on her table. I picked one up and smelled it -- not bad. I began to take it with me until she insisted, “Put that back.”

And then I was out the door. Grandma was definitely the cure for my bad mood. I’m lucky to have an 88 year-old Grandma that in addition to the general “how are you doing” conversation likes to talk about important things and current events. If it’s OK with her, I hope she’s around for a long time.