A Special Kind Of Family. Eileen Berger

something of a nonjudging bystander, not actively participating in much of what was going on, but being associated with them in people’s minds. But I did get Mother’s attention, and succeeded in upsetting her as much as she upset me….

      Gram had stressed how essential it was for the girls to study hard and get their GEDs, so Vanessa struggled to remember algebraic fundamentals forgotten since high school—and began to realize what her grandmother was involved with every day!

      While checking homework for the younger two, she reminded them all that Gram’s rules, which they’d agreed to when coming here, were still in effect, including being in bed early on week nights. They hurried into pajamas and came back downstairs in time to watch TV for thirty minutes.

      As it turned out, she did permit them some leeway, since they were upset to learn that Gram’s fracture was so severe, and she would be undergoing surgery the next day.

      The older three usually had an extra hour before they were required to be in their rooms. She’d expected to go upstairs soon after them, and when the phone rang, she dreaded to pick it up. Hearing Rob’s voice she sank back into the recliner with relief—or something more?

      “I hope this isn’t too late to be calling, Van?”

      She laughed. “Not too late since it’s you.” But then, realizing how that might sound, she sat up straighter, explaining, “I was afraid it was the hospital—that something might be wrong there. Or perhaps it would be a problem at work.”

      “Nope. Just me.” His voice was reassuring. “I wondered if you might have any more news, so I called to check before turning in for the night.”

      They spoke of various other things, too, especially Nate Bowman’s wife and two daughters, who were holding up quite well, perhaps partly because he’d been in the nursing home so long before his death.

      She was pleased when Rob admitted, “Actually, my main reason for calling was to thank you again for inviting me to stay for dinner. I enjoyed being with you.”

      Is he just being polite? “We appreciated your company as much as the food you brought.” She had deliberately used we instead of I.

      “It brought back a lot of memories….”

      Yes, it did!

      Chapter Two

      Vanessa expected the morning’s routine to be similar to the day before, but shortly after she got downstairs, Mrs. Redding came across the yard, offering to stay until Aunt Phyl arrived. “…In case you want to go around to visit your grandmother on the way to work,” she told Vanessa.

      She blinked back unexpected tears at Gin’s generosity. “I’d been wishing I could see her before her surgery. And may I ask another favor? I know Gram’s accident was already on the prayer chain, but could you start it again, saying that surgery is scheduled for ten o’clock and asking for prayers?”

      “Rob put it on already.” Her hand was pressing firmly against Vanessa’s waist. “So you get going.”

      It was a perfect autumn day, every direction she looked revealing countless shades of red, yellow, orange, even wine, elegantly set off by evergreens. This was her favorite season, and she recalled Gram saying last Sunday at a family get-together, “Each year I think God can’t make it any more beautiful, but He outdid Himself this October!”

      The hills and mountains made Vanessa glad to be living here in north-central Pennsylvania. Gram kept thanking God for all this, but if He was really as all-powerful and all-knowing as she thought, wouldn’t He already know how much people enjoyed it?

      Once she arrived at the hospital, it didn’t take Vanessa long to find Gram’s room. She sat on the edge of Gram’s hospital bed, holding her hand. “It’s okay, Gram, to admit you’re a little nervous about surgery.”

      The older woman grinned at her. “All right, I am having some nervousness, and I’m aware that I’ll hurt a lot when I come to. However, I’ve lived with constant pain since my fall, and that won’t go away by itself. Once the surgery and the hurting are over—and the therapy—I expect to eventually get around fine.”

      Vanessa leaned over and kissed Gram’s cheek, and didn’t realize until Gram’s arms came around her and the soft voice said, “Thank you, dear,” that this was the first in a long time that she’d been the one to initiate such a loving embrace with her grandmother.

      Why am I like this? Am I afraid to show love because Mother used to push me away when I wanted to hug or kiss her, saying she hated getting all rumpled? Almost with reluctance, she straightened. “Rob’s put you on the prayer chain again.”

      “Tell him I appreciate his doing that. Why should I worry with all those prayers uplifting me?”

      Vanessa admired Gram’s being so bright-eyed and cheerful. “Do you have messages for the girls, or the family?” That sounds as though I’m offering to dispense her final words—as though I don’t think she’ll survive!

      But before she’d figured how to make that sound better, Gram was saying, “Tell each of the girls how much I love her, just as she is now. And say that I also love her for what she will be, with God’s help and guidance. I respect her for sticking by the decision to have her baby, and I’m looking forward to helping her through that—and afterward.”

      “Good morning, Gram!” Keith came strolling in, wearing a dark-blue business suit and tie. “And a good morning to you, also, Van.”

      “Are Andi and Katherine going home today?” Gram asked.

      His eyes sparkled. “Leave it to you to think first of happy prospects, Gram! Yes, they’ll be leaving later this morning, but right now they’re doing something extra special.” He stepped back a pace, his arm encircling his beautiful wife, who came in carrying a small, pink-wrapped bundle in her arms.

      Andi looked indescribably happy. “Katherine and I got a special dispensation to leave our floor and come wish you the very best through surgery and recovery.”

      Gram had been tilted upward slightly and now, without thinking, attempted to sit upright and reach for the sleeping infant. She gasped, face contorted with agony. Sinking back against her pillow, she wiped moisture from her upper lip and forehead. “Thanks, Andi,” she managed to say in an obvious struggle to keep her voice fairly normal. “How thoughtful and generous of you!”

      “It’s pure selfishness on my part.” Andi was going along with Gram’s facade of being all right. “We couldn’t be in the same hospital and not come to be with you for at least a little while.” She leaned over to kiss her and to settle her daughter in the arms of her great-grandmother.

      It was just a short time before a nurse came with yet another presurgery form, and Keith and Andi left with the baby. Vanessa had planned to stay until Gram was actually on her way to surgery, but Gram wouldn’t hear of it. “As you see, I’m being very well taken care of. I appreciate your coming, dear, but you run along to your office, and get all those important things taken care of.”

      She didn’t want to leave, but there were calls which should already have been made and a mix-up in Research and Development she hoped wouldn’t be too difficult to straighten out. And she never knew what else could be awaiting her when she arrived.

      While diligently working in her office at the plant, Vanessa received a call from her dad a little after two-thirty, letting her know that he was back from his business trip to Europe, and saying the surgery was over and Gram was in the recovery room, doing as well as could be expected.

      She hated that expression; it meant so little! Was Gram as good as one would expect of someone her age, or good compared with everyone? And whose expectations did that refer to, anyway? Gram herself expected to be up and about quickly.

      A shiver passed through her, there at the big desk in her pristinely organized office. Her own hopes had not been as high as they probably should be; Vanessa would never have Gram’s