Earthquakes and Intensive Care

A: Earthquake epicenter
San Dimas (circled): Where I was during the earthquake
X: Where I live. Click for a larger version.

What do they say? "When it rains it pours?"

Today was kind of like that.

It started out normal enough, although I knew that my grandma was in the hospital, so not completely normal.

I had made plans to visit my other grandma--my dad's mom--in San Dimas. I was only in her house for a moment when we heard, and then felt, the shaking. I pulled her under a doorway and we waited out an earthquake. There was a crash in the kitchen. She thought it was the ceiling, but it was only a glass container with chili that smashed and splattered all over the floor. Earthquakes are interesting, because you know that they are only a few seconds, but time slows down when you're in the middle of one.

The kitchen floor was a mess and it took me a good half hour to really clean it up so it wasn't slippery anymore. Little glass shards had sprayed on the counter and in all directions on the floor. No walking barefoot in there for a while.

Then we went to lunch, which was the original plan. My grandma was still, pardon the expression, "shook up" a bit for quite a while afterwards. I was OK, but I gained new respect for those earthquake drills at my school. After lunch I took my grandma to the nearby Stater Bros. market. What a mess. Tons of bottles of things were knocked over. Picture the "domino effect" all over the market.

I was glad that I was with my grandma when it happened. And, since it was east of where I live, I knew that my house wouldn't be in bad shape, which was a comfort. There were a couple of frames knocked over in the living room and that was it. Thank heavens. Same kind of damage at my mom's house across the street.

After dealing with the earthquake excitement, we had to deal with what is happening with my other grandma--my mom's mom--which is not good. After yesterday morning's massive stroke, things have worsened and will not likely get better. Her brain is hemorrhaging and herniating, which means that the pressure is causing the brain to move downward into the spinal column.

We are preparing for the end.

It hardly seems possible that we are going to be dealing with her loss when my grandpa just passed in March. After they were married for 66 years, it is like he is calling her back to him.

Today several relatives visited and her sister is flying in from Mexico on Thursday. But for the most part, all we can do is wait.