By some miracle, Grandma made it through the holidays. She’s definitely looking worse — Mom’s been having a lot of trouble coaxing her out of bed the past couple of days. But she seemed to enjoy Christmas, and we never expected her to make it this long, so we’re not complaining. You have to be glad for whatever you can get in this world.

The past few weekends, I’ve started sitting at Grandma’s so she’s not left alone while Mom goes to church. And I’ve discovered something that I used to know, years ago when I did some house-sitting, but had forgotten: there’s great pleasure to be found in hanging out alone at someone else’s house.

Yes, technically, I’m not alone at Grandma’s — but she spends 90% of her time lightly dozing in bed, so I’m pretty much free to amuse myself however I like. And I’ve been reveling in watching an hour and a half of HGTV.

You see, when you’re at your own home, there’s always that knowledge in the back of your mind that there’s something else you ought to be doing — laundry, cooking, cleaning, and a million other little necessities. Even when I declare it relaxation time, there’s a certain amount of prioritizing: watching that Netflix DVD that’s been sitting on the desk for a week; reading those 3 books I started but never finished; reading those other 5 books I bought but never read; or watching that DVD I had to have — you know, the one that’s been sitting in the unopened case for the past 6 months. But at Grandma’s, there’s no internet and no DVD player — and so if I leave the books behind, there’s nothing to stop me from experiencing blissful, guilt-free enjoyment of HGTV.

I’ve found my silver lining, and I’m delighted with it.

Mom signed the hospice papers yesterday, so I feel like we’ve done all we can to prepare for whatever happens with Grandma. That’s a big, big relief.

A friend at church said they used the same hospice facility for her father and were extremely pleased with the care he received. She also said the personnel were able to tell very accurately when it was time to move him from home care to the facility. Both of those facts are reassuring to me.

We live roughly an hour from the facility, so when the time comes to move Grandma there, Mom and I will get a hotel room close to the hospice. That way we can spend as much time as possible with Grandma and have a “home base” nearby when we need a break. Luckily, the hospice is very close to my old apartment complex, so we’re both familiar with the area. And there are plenty of restaurants and fast food places on hand for meals.

I feel like we’ve covered all the angles and done everything possible to plan. All we can do now is be attentive and wait.