Peanut's Great Grandma Rose died yesterday. She was 102! This is Robert D's maternal grandmother. Grandma Rose had been living in Dallas for the past 4 years, so Peanut got to spend a lot of time with her (she lived at Mimi and Paw Paw's house for most of that time). We used to enjoy dinners with her on the Tuesday nights when Mimi would pick Peanut up from school for me. Most of the time her brain was pretty sharp, it was her body that failed her. She had the most beautiful face for her age, nice complexion. Very pretty lady and I love that Peanut looks a little like her.
Robert D had been at the hospital all day yesterday (they took Grandma off of life support in the morning). I picked up Peanut from school for him and kept her overnight. Usually Barkley only goes in her backpack on days when she switches houses...so The Barks was still at Daddy's House when I picked her up. It was about 8pm when she realized that she'd have to go to bed without Barkley. She's only done this once in her life, so big tears started flowing. Add to that the sadness she was feeling knowing Grandma Rose was dying and that she wouldn't be able to see her to say good-bye and we were seconds away from a full blown meltdown. I wouldn't blame her if she went that route...it had been a tough day and The Barks is such a steady comfort for her. I bargained in ways I wouldn't normally. I told her she could put her giant stuffed horse, Rain, in the bed along with her mechanical dog Biscuit and the rest of the Barkley family (Baby Barks, Big Barks, Fluffy Barks and Boop)...she was still tearing up when I was trying to get her PJ's on...finally just looked at her and said, "Would it help if I let you sleep in your Belle costume?". That did the trick for about 1 minute and the tears rolled again..."How about if Mommy lets you sleep with her old Snoopy?"....Bright eyes, and a big grin! She's never been able to sleep with my 40 year old Snoopy dog...I wouldn't even sleep with him for fear he'd turn into shreds. Telling her about all the repairs that Papa Sam had made to Snoopy when I was little helped calm her down. I found that relaying stories about her great grandparents (living and deceased) has really helped this past week. She's felt more connected and so have I.
She was ready for bed after reading for about 20 minutes (some book about a stinky kid). Gave her a hug and a kiss, told her to "be my sunshine in the morning" and left the room...after about 2 minutes she called out that she couldn't sleep. Told her to try really hard. Five minutes later not a peep out of her.
I hope she never has to spend another night without Barkley.
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