Unrelated Bad News

Being the bearer of bad news sucks. I feel like I've delivered too much of it recently, and I wish there was something monumentally exciting that I could report in order to partially offset the negatives. Let me at least say that Andrew's progress has been wonderful, D and I are very supportive of one another and have been coping as well as we can, and we couldn't ask for a more caring and kind set of friends, relatives, coworkers, and extended support group.

Andrew's great-grandmother H passed away last night at 7:45. She was my mom's mom...my Yia-Yia (greek for grandmother)...and we're all going to miss her very much. She wasn't what you would call a traditional grandma, but still managed to spoil, encourage, and support me in every way possible. She taught me how to play poker, bought me my first Nintendo system, and took me on my first visit to Greece. I was incredibly lucky to have the chance to make that trip with her, where she trekked all over the country without a hint of complaint, introduced me to family and friends that I had never met before, and really gave me a personal connection to a wonderful country. She was incredibly vibrant, sometimes larger-than-life, and lived every moment to the fullest. Until recently, she played cards and saw her friends and family every week, and still participated in a bowling league just a few years ago. She had a huge social network, and was universally loved amongst all who knew her.

The last few months have been very difficult for her and the family. A chronic back injury led to various medical treatments, none of which seemed to help the situation. As pain from the condition grew worse, her mobility suffered, and she was unable to do many of the things she loved most. Throughout the whole ordeal, I never heard her complain for a second....not about the pain, not about the mobility, and not even about the medical procedures. Unfortunately, complications from one of those procedures led to a worsening of her condition; she had a stroke, and couldn't devote the necessary effort to physical therapy and recovery because of the still-unsolved back pain. The last two months in particular have been a delicate balance of trying to resolve the pain without over-medicating...surgical procedures were no longer an option due to her delicate health, and the pain only got worse. Eventually we grew to realize that there was no happy solution, and that effort should be focused on relieving her pain until the inevitable conclusion. Everyone has had a rough few months dealing with the combination of Yia-Yia and Andrew, but my mom has had it particularly rough...not being able to visit Andrew very much, while witnessing all the awful moments of her slow slide. While this outcome is not the one we would ever wish for, nor the one we expected several months ago, relief of her pain was unfortunately the best result for Yia-Yia and everyone else involved.

For me, the saddest part of the whole situation will be that Andrew will never know his great-grandma. She won't be able to teach him poker, or speak Greek to him, or give him a Christmas present wrapped in newspaper and/or grocery bags. She lived a full life and produced a wonderful family, but I regret that Andrew missed out on that personal connection. We will certainly all tell him stories, but we'll never be able to communicate her laugh, her heart, even the smell of her perfume....we can never express how much she meant to us all.

I love you, Yia-Yia.