Kyle Berg

Being I had lots of free time and I hadn’t seen Grandma Grace for quite a while, I figured her birthday was a great reason to pay her a visit. I drove down to Atwater and arrived around 1 in the afternoon. Grandma’s face lit up and she seemed excited to spend the day with me. We sat down to talk and then she fixed some lunch. I tried not to eat her out of house and home, but I was hungry. It was funny to watch her reactions to feeding a male in his twenties. Then I gave Grandma the wireless headphones my dad had sent as her birthday present.  Grandma’s old set was exactly the same, but one earphone didn’t work and there was static in the other. I hooked up the new pair and she appeared very pleased with the gift.

A little later Mart and Netty came over to Grandma’s apartment for ice cream and some of Grandma’s angel food cake with apricot pie filling. We chatted and I realized how much more enjoyable it was being with them as an adult. Growing up, they had been among that mass of people that I was forced to meet at family reunions. But now time had a new perspective and I wanted to be there. I was especially surprised that Mart was 96 years old! He was very sharp and maintained an appearance much younger than his age. Both he and his wife were very kind and it was nice of them to visit us.

That evening Grandma and I went to Willmar for supper at Grizzly’s. We had a quiet meal and then headed back to Atwater. We took the “back road” home and we talked as Grandma enjoyed the comfort of the heated seat. Back at the apartment, Grandma broke in her new headphones as we watched episode one of “John Adams”, the miniseries by HBO. Grandma first read the book while I was in college and had recommended it to me. On her recommendation, I bought it a couple years ago and finally read it this past January. It was enjoyable to watch part of the series with her and talk about how it compared to the book. After she went to bed, I watched the end of the Minnesota Wild game and then went to bed. I had forgotten to bring an air mattress but slept fine on the small mound of blankets we built.

The following morning Grandma cooked me a nice big breakfast and again was taken aback by the quantity of food I needed. She headed off to deliver meals to some elderly people and I stayed back to try working on her computer and printer for her. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching another episode of “John Adams”, eating lunch, and playing a couple games of cribbage.

I was there only a short time, but I hope Grandma enjoyed having company and getting to see me. I was really happy to see how many family members interrupted us throughout the day with their phone calls wishing her well on her special day.