Ok, it should be Abuelita, it should be noted...but eh.
My grandma's favorite place in the world is Las Vegas. She loves to gamble, loves loves loves the quarter slots. Doesn't even care when they take all her money away, as long as she can hold on to it long enough to get through the weekend. I had to drag her back into the room at 3 am on Friday night, and 2 on Saturday. She would have kept going too...
And here's the thing. She lost her daughter this year, her daughter/best friend/only friend/confidant/basically spouse. She cries more than she smiles now. But we just spent about 48 hours together where she laughed more than cried. Where we laughed together, each time that the machine graced us with 5 extra quarters, even if we had just put in 6...laughed at my mom and cousin when they drank too much, laughed at the girls with their fancy shoes off by midnight, laughed at the casino for creating such a maze we couldn't even find the bathroom...just laughed. And wow, was it so worth it.
Even with the time away from Michael and the kids after he just returned from a week in Hong Kong...even with coming home to a pile of laundry to fold that has completely swallowed my couch...even with the memories of my aunt which haunted me all of last week as we arrived at the 7 month anniversary of her death. Worth every single part. And not just because some of those memories were of how I held her hand as she wondered about whether or not she was going to die, with me not having the heart to tell her what I knew to be true (and then eventually finding that strength)...and how I promised her I would take care of Lita when she went...but it while it may have been a sense of duty that got me to take advantage of the free-ish weekend, that wasn't what brought on the laughter. And I am so so so thankful for the laughter.
About Me
- Ariella
- I blog. I also mother, wife, create, preserve, recycle, cook, act, quilt, exercise, laugh, write, lolligag, work, volunteer, sing, and sometimes sleep.
3 comments:
That is fabulous. My grandmother (and great grandmother) also loved Vegas, and a part of them is still there. Literally. In the planters outside a casino downtown.
That might just change Lita's mind about cremation. After we cremated Mimma, she decided it was so awful that she wants to be buried...maybe the idea that she could be left scattered around Vegas would change her mind back.
Seriously, who's grandma didn't love Vegas? If mine hadn't bought a plot with her husband and his parents like 50 years ago, I'm sure she would have wanted to be sprinkled in Vegas. As it is she has a million dollar hillside view of the West Side.....
I'm so glad the trip was wonderful. :)
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