For months and months, we’ve been trying to get her out of the house, to take her somewhere besides the doctor’s or her hairdresser. Time and time again, plans to go to the mall or out to lunch have been axed at the last minute, most the time at his command, but sometimes, out of her exhaustion (which, I secretly wonder if it’s just her way to shut him up, or to make him feel like he’s right). When she found out I was coming home, she got so excited. She told me we’d go shopping for my birthday, have lunch at the Ruby Tuesday, and share some chocolate cake. With Mom coming into town, too, it would be just like when I was a little girl and the three of us would spend an entire Saturday at the mall--hair, nails, clothes, treats.
The whole family woke up and got ready. It was just like old times--the guys cooking a big breakfast and the girls getting dressed up. Mom cozied up next to Nana at the kitchen counter and went through the day’s plans with her:
“We’ll have breakfast, then we will go to the mall and do a little shopping. We can have lunch together, then come home and pack. Bekah can go see Casey and the baby, then Ken wants to be on the road by 5.”
“I’m too tired today.” And with that, Nana walked away and Mom and I stared at each other, dumbfounded and disappointed. Weeks of planning out the window in four flat words.
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