Grandma's Last Days

Bye-bye. All right, bye-bye. Bye. That's it. That could, that could be it. Rebecca's mom Beth, aka Grandma, is at the end of her ALS journey. About a week ago it was getting too hard to swallow, hard to breathe. We decided it's time. She's ready. It's time. So she's not eating or drinking. When it rains, it floods. We've got the hurricane, Rebecca's mom's dying, Gideon is now sick. Lightheaded? I have a fever. What? Mom said I have a fever. Oh, a light fever? At first Grandma was gonna go at home, but that proved to be too difficult. We just weren't sure we were keeping her pain-free and things like that. And so we just want her to be comfortable in these end of days. I mean, ALS is a— All right, it's tiny. It's a tiny plot, isn't it? And too many people are getting out. We're gonna have to get them situated soon. But anyway, uh, we made the decision to send Grandma into a hospice house. I mean, a place where you can go and you can be monitored 24/7 and die peacefully. It's been like 5 days. Cool time at the Elizabeth house. Wow. Yeah, see, this is heavy. I actually don't need— I need a weight on the machine so I'm not handling this twice. Pile of somewhat moldy and moist hay that I think we can slow the cows down in their rotation out there and feed. You know, the cows won't eat this part, say, but they could eat the rest, and the rest would put carbon on the pastures. What are we doing? Let's get the track loader. We're gonna get these super rotten hay bales, we'll load them right here, and then you'll just move over and just dump them in there. Boys are gonna get started. Time out in the Somberty? Somber mood? I just gotta document this. We designed this bathroom so that we could come in from the outside. Oh, you've got to be kidding me. The key lock isn't working. Wait a minute, I got it working, and I don't even have to take my farm shoes off. Much later. It's the little things. And I'm above the ground. Oh my gosh, it's good having teeth. I go to the bathroom and moments later this is picked up. I gotta go minister to Henry. Henry, I'm coming. Start a couple of pallets right there at that corner. Start stacking this compromised hay. Wish I could see your face right now. Nope. You want to reenact that face, that I'm a crazy lunatic face? It's fine right there. No, it isn't. It's gonna rain. I don't see a cloud. And right now it's feedable. Do you see a cloud? No, but it's coming. Jonah, please stack up bells right there in that corner, and we'll leave the rest for good hay. Are you getting sick too? Okay, come on, hey, get off the couch if you want hot dog. Come sit at the counter. Do you want to go out with me? Don't sit on the couch. Sit at the table. Here, go sit at the table with Lily. Hot dog saved the day. It's like a great balancing act. Got a couple of tragedies, you know, between— we've got the high tunnel and the farm and the, you know, the pole barn destroyed, needs to be rebuilt, the bridge, and Grandma going in twice a day, Rebecca gone all day. It's a balancing act like I've never seen before. I want to try to move this without breaking it. Yay, boys! This is looking so good. Keep it real spacey like you're doing. That's good, so it'll air out. Did I ever tell you I was proud of you guys? Meaning I noticed you. I noticed you're good. I noticed your man— your manliness shining through. A man serves. A man gives. A boy takes. They're definitely men now. We arrived to the Elizabeth House and go in. I'm thankful that Henry had Shoes on, we go into the room, visit with Rebecca, Beth, and niece Faith, get our hugs before we leave. We all miss Mama. She's gone all day long and we really miss her. On our way home! And yet another bridge is open! Saves us 8 minutes. Are you excited? 3 o'clock. We left at like 11. How do you feel? Good. Okay, you sound better. You've been drinking? Yeah. Recap, where are we going? Hey, where's our stuff? Where's our peanut butter? Wait, wait, wait, wait, where's our groceries? Here, pretend this is a full jar of peanut butter. Been grocery shopping for the essentials we don't grow on the farm. Before you do that, go get the groceries out of the back of the truck. Josiah, will you help her? You know, they're suffering too, so I got him a train set. We had to go to the toy store. Amazon isn't shipping here. I forgot what a pain in the butt it is to go on errands. I had to go get a mic because this kaput midway through. That's why that section where we went to grandmother's was narrated and didn't have live-action audio. And our secret weapon during this crazy busy time, the smiley one, making what she calls my butter babies. Butter babies. She made the big fat butter. Oh, you just rubbed it. You just rubbed the butter. Yeah, look, you just had it. Yeah, everybody is stepping up to the plate. Lily making the meals, taking 2 meals a day into town. But today, Lorraine and Jason, so the land— big virtual hug for them— are taking the meal to Mama tonight. How hot do I put the oven? 400, 425. It's the little things that lift us up right now. Like, let's get some candles while we're at the store. It's getting dark. The beautiful one was coming home. This is like the first night in 4 nights she's come home before dark. ALS is a mean disease. Attacks you neurologically. All of Beth's organs are just fine, so she's tough as nails inside, and it's just taking forever. Bless her soul. Bless everybody in the family. This is rough. I would wish this on no one. And I say happy day, not dismissing this, not being toxic positivity, but just as in a Goodbye. That's how my dad would say hello and goodbye. My late father. Happy day.