Change is Hard

Sometimes change is hard, and when you've been married for 59 years, and you suddenly can't do it on your own anymore, change becomes necessary. Such is the situation for my grandparents the last few days. Until Monday they had been getting along okay. My Grampy has Dementia/Alzheimers and also Parkinsons and he's been quite deaf for a long time. Grammy, despite also having Parkinsons and being legally blind and bit hard of hearing too, has been 'taking care' of him and herself for the last couple of years at Elim, a Christian seniors' complex in Fleetwood.
On Monday, that all changed. My sister Sherri-Lynn was in town for a last minute, and I believe divinely appointed, visit, and she stopped in to pick Grammy up to take her shopping. Just 5 minutes before she arrived (which was 10 minutes earlier than planned)Grammy fell and hit her head on the floor. Grampy was napping on the couch and had taken his hearing aids out, so he did not hear her calling for help. Sherri-Lynn arrived and knocked on the door which woke Grampy up and he opened the door for her and they discovered what had happened. The emergency buzzer was pushed and the ambulance called. Grammy now has 4 staples in the back of her head and a big goose egg. They are keeping her at Surrey Memorial for a few days while they run tests. She had fainted in the dining hall a few months back, so they wanted to be sure all was okay inside her head. Now we are waiting for test results. Now their lives are in the midst of a big change.
Tomorrow morning Grampy will be moved temporarily to the Kinsmen Place Lodge so that he can get the care he needs, which Grammy can no longer provide for him. The social worker at the hospital today said that they will do all they can to keep them together. Grammy was almost in tears at the thought of any possibility of being apart.
Change is hard. Time will tell what their living situation will look like after this. I pray that they will be able to stay together and both get the care they need.
As I visited with Grammy and my Mom this afternoon in that hospital room, I was able to read aloud Psalm 145 to her, at the close of which she uttered a clear "Amen". What a wonderful testament to trust in our Lord, her Lord, in the midst of difficult change. Change is hard, but change is good when it draws us closer our Lord.