I spent independence day with my grandmother, mother and daughter. 4 generations of independent women. My grandmother was an avid photographer and as a kid she and her brothers used to take photos and develop and print them and sell them to their friends. She was also a psychologist, college professor, a women's rights activist and a peace corps volunteer.
There is no doubt that she was a huge influence on me. These days there is only a brief glimmer of who she once was. Dementia and various health issues including hearing loss are taking her farther and farther away from us.
It's hard to watch but after such a healthy vibrant life I guess she is fading slowly. I find myself torn between really wanting take advantage of the small amount of time she has on the planet and finding it difficult to see her like this.
We had a nice evening of hanging out at Grandma's retirement home and taking her out to eat crabs at Barefoot Green's. Then we found a space right off the road on the small patch of grass between the river and the street which leads to the park where they were setting off the fire works. My daughter ran around with all the kids catching fireflies. Grandma sat there quietly, which in the old days would never have happened, she would have been walking around talking to all the people and their kids, but this time she just sat there. I was worried that she wasn't enjoying it but when the fireworks were over I asked her what she thought and she said that it was so lovely and that she had really enjoyed it so it felt good to have brought her along.
And they were lovely. It was a lovely night.
