A Trip Down Memory Lane

During the wedding planning process, our lives were so busy. Even though I only live three hours away from Idaho Falls (my hometown), I did not go home for seven months. I felt awful for neglecting my grandparents and little brother and told them both I would come visit during the third weekend in August (the only weekend in August that I didn't have a wedding to go to). I told my grandparents I wanted to go on a long drive through Annis and LaBelle, where they grew up. Just before that weekend, though, my Grandma was hospitalized. Instead of spending the weekend spending quality time with my grandparents. I spent most of the weekend in the hospital.

Although my Grandma has been in the hospital before and had problems with her legs for awhile, this was the first time I was truly scared that she might die. My Aunt told me that she had been diagnosed with TTP, which affects the platelet and red and white blood cell counts. As soon as I started to research, I realized that this is a terrible disease that has an extremely high mortality rate (80%) and can lead to sudden death. I barely left my Grandma's side. I put on a happy face for Grandma, but I was heartbroken and inconsolable as soon as I left. It seemed so unfair that when I finally have a chance to spend time with my Grandma, I lose her. I was so angry at myself for not making more of an effort during the wedding process.

When her doctor got back on Monday, I talked to him to ask some questions about her treatment. After a few minutes, it became very clear that we were talking about two different diseases. It turns out she has I-TP, not T-TP. ITP also affects the platelets, but it has a low mortality rate. Within a week, she was out of the hospital and running around the house cleaning and giving Grandpa "honey-dos".

We re-scheduled our trip down memory lane to the first weekend in September. Grandma and Grandpa showed my where they grew up, where they went to school, where they met (rollerskating), and told me all about their courtship. Most of the buildings were either gone or abandoned. The ones that were still standing had not weathered well. It was so fun to see these places that I had heard so much about. I am so grateful that we had this opportunity and that it was not really too late. We ended our trip with a visit to the Annis cemetery to visit their parents' graves. After spending the morning talking about how they grew up, it brought things full circle to hear them talk about where they would be buried. Life is too short!