Notre Dame with Jeff and Jen

Fun fall day in South Bend, Indiana with Jeff and Jen. We tailgated for the first time which entails walking around in the parking lot before the football game eating the food and drinking the beer of Notre Dame alumni and parents (basically friends' of Jen's). I was amazed by people's friendliness and generosity all in the name of football. Go Irish!

My Grandma

Last Saturday my cousin, Kristin, and I spent the morning with our Grandma June. My grandma has alzheimer's and I'm not sure that she knew who we were and I'm sure she won't remember our morning together, but I will. We ate breakfast at my uncle's with her and then we took her shopping to Wal-Mart.

Things I will remember about that Saturday morning shopping trip:

1. How much she trusted us when she probably didn't really know who we were and she didn't seem to mind that we called her Grandma
2. How much she loves the color red. Seriously, the woman loves red and wanted to buy any shirt that had red in it because her husband loves her in red.
3. The vest we tried to buy for her so that she could be trendy, but it didn't quite fit, but she kept trying it on anyway (because she didn't remember that she already tried it on). She informed us that the color of the vest was wine...and it really was the best way to describe it.
4. The way we spent about 20 minutes in the yarn section trying to talk her into crocheting a blanket that was a color other than blue, but she kept wanting blue yarn even though she had a whole bag of blue yarn back in her apartment. We left the section empty handed. I guess the upside of alzheimer's is that she can be easily distracted.
5. Kristin's cool new boots...thanks to Uncle Dick and his credit card! :)
6. Buying Grandma red roses to take back to her room
7. Taking Grandma back to her "apartment" and her not recognizing the place and asking why we don't take her home. The anxiety in her voice.
8. Saying good-bye to Grandma and knowing that in a few minutes she would wonder where those red roses in her room came from.
9. Realizing that the Grandma I spent the morning with and the Grandma of my childhood is not the same person, yet at the same time she is.
10. On the drive home, Kristin posing this question: "I wonder what it's like for the people around you to know you better than you know yourself?"

I can't imagine what it's like not to remember. To realize that things are familiar or that you should know them, but can't quite put your finger on it. My grandma is so sweet and although she may not know me, she realizes I'm a friend. I'm glad I have my childhood memories of her, but I'm also glad to have this memory of her as well. Wow, even as I type this I realize how much I take memories for granted. To live fully and completely in the present...is that what it means to have alzheimer's?

Night on the Town

We had a fun packed weekend. Saturday we drove to South Bend, Indiana and tailgated at a Notre Dame football game with Aaron's cousin Jeff and his girlfriend Jen (who is a Notre Dame alumni). We experienced a whole new culture, this tailgating thing with intense football fans. It really is a cool way to spend a fall Saturday. We'll post some pictures when we get them.
We didn't actually stay for the football game, however, because we had a concert to go to in Chicago. Aaron gave me this as a birthday gift back in August and it was worth the wait. We saw Brenda Weiler (one of my favorites) at a cool restaurant in Chicago. It was a super intimate setting...only about 45 people could fit in the room. So we enjoyed her voice and guitar while we ate dinner. We had a great time. Then next morning we drove through downtown Chicago, got coffee, and took some pictures from the car. (Aaron had to preach at a Sunday night service, so we had to get back to Grand Rapids and didn't have time to explore the city) It was such a fun weekend! Thanks, Aaron, for the birthday present - it was the best!!

Getting bigger...

Here we are week 29 already. Pretty crazy! This picture was taken after we went for a Sunday drive to check out the Michigan fall colors. It was beautiful, but also extremely hot - almost 90 degrees. Not really the ideal fall afternoon drive weather. Funny thing is...we forgot to take pictures of the brilliant fall colors, so this is outside of our apartment. You'll have to imagine the colors and we'll have to hope that our memory pictures last!

TJ's to the rescue

Last Saturday Aaron and I drove to Ann Arbor for the afternoon. Very cool town...a little Boulder-esque and to make it even better - there was a Trader Joe's!!! So these are before and after pics of our fridge. Most of our food in the first picture came from the seminary food pantry (gotta love it!) and then we filled our fridge and cupboards with food from TJ's. It's amazing how one little store in Ann Arbor, MI can lift my spirits and my appetite so much! 3 cheers for Trader Joe's!!

To Future Aaron and Kate

Remember back when you lived in Michigan for a few months and Aaron was finishing seminary? Before you had "real" jobs and kids and a "to do" list a mile long? Those were the days, weren't they? All that time in the evenings to go for long walks and to watch 2-3 episodes of LOST in a row. Remember how much cereal you ate at night and how empty your fridge was? Oh yeah, and how about those minimum wage jobs that you had? But really, in a way it was just so nice to simply "clock in & clock out" and not have to worry about it until the next time you went. Remember your Saturday morning tradition of getting coffee and going to the farmer's market, oh yeah and don't forget your Sunday afternoon tradition of studying and reading for hours at Panera with hazelnut coffee and bagels. Soon enough your days in Michigan will be "back when we lived in Michigan" or "back before we had kids" or "didn't you love the fall in Michigan when we went to the farmer's market with our coffee?" and you will wish you hadn't taken them so for granted.