Fran's 80th Birthday Party
2005

Anita Krull, Maribeth, Philip and Levi May, Fran, MaryMay Angelil

Fran Becomes Weaker

Two weeks ago, Levi and I boarded a plane to Virginia to settle Levi in at James Madison University for his sophomore year. Philip stayed behind to look after Fran.

It was a difficult weekend for him because she became more weak than usual with a very low blood pressure. Her doctor was called and an IV was ordered. Philip really felt it was near the end for Fran.

I got home late Monday evening from Virginia and stopped in to see her. I found her sleeping comfortably. Philip took a fresh thermos of “strong stove coffee” (as Momma May calls it) into her early Tuesday morning on his way to work. The IV seemed to give her a boost. Her mind has been extremely clear since that episode but her body very weak.

Her main fear has been not being able to pull the help cord beside her bed because of her weakness. Philip and I talked things over and felt it was time to hire a “sitter” to be with Fran during the day when we are at work. Fran seemed relieved with our decision.

We hired a woman named Shelley that we have known from our church for the past 10 years. Shelley lived with her elderly Aunt for many years and cared for her up until her death. Shelley comes in and keeps Fran company, reads to her, assists her with her meals and keeps an eye on her care and care providers. Fran seems a bit more relaxed and enjoys the company.

Fran continues to talk about all of you back in Virginia and looks forward to your letters and cards. Please continue to keep Fran in your prayers.

Maribeth

Memories Revisited

Mom has had some mentally clear times recently in spite of her continuing physical decrease in strength. She had an episode of low blood pressure this past weekend that was serious. An IV was started and after a couple liters of fluid, she returned to a more stable condition.

She is on some special medication that is now starting to kick in and have an effect on her memory and attitude. Her thinking is clearer. Her speech is a little louder and more understandable.

Even in Mom’s darkest of times over the past year, she has always maintained her sense of humor, which always manages to shine through to us despite her miseries and tribulations.

I am asking her some questions about some past times and getting some surprising answers, many of which make me laugh. I hope you enjoy them. Here is her take on Granddaddy and Grandmother May so far. What’s written is not totally verbatim, but pretty close to what she said. There may be more to come.

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Walker May, SR (Granddaddy)

“Mom, tell me some of your favorite memories about Granddaddy May.” Momma May smiled a chuckled just a little. “Granddaddy used to read a lot. He loved the National Geographic and Readers Digest the most. He would like to read some and then tell us about the articles (he said ar-tickles, with emphasis on the ‘tickles’ part of the word). You (Phil) used to sit on his lap for hours at a time while he read to you. He taught you to tell time, which you always remembered.”

“Granddaddy was a gentle man who never fussed with me over anything. His kindness I will always remember. He and Grandmother Ruth Bowman May would have “discussions” each day over one thing or another. You asked them why they argued so much. They laughed at you and said, “We’re not arguing, we are just having a ‘discussion’”. They got pretty loud sometimes. They seemed to like it rather much as a part of their relationship. Sometimes Grandmother talked just too much for Granddaddy and he would reach his limit. He would simply and loudly say to her, “Shut up, woman!” Of course, she never did.” Mom and I both laughed out loud over this memory.

“Phil, you thought Granddaddy May was the greatest and you learned from him with enthusiasm. When you were about to enter first grade at Mt Clinton eElementary, you were introduced to Miss Arlene, your teacher. You told her, “I don’t really need to come to this school. My Granddaddy will teach me everything I will need to know!”

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Ruth Bowman May (Grandmother)

“ Your grandmother never stopped working, never stopped talking (She was a ‘chatterbox’), and never sat down long. She was very smart, and a math wizard. She tutored you all in mathematics. She was also a researcher. If she didn’t know something she would research the encyclopedia Britannica until she found the information she wanted. She had a dictionary as big as Alaska, which she kept on the front porch and she referred to it often. It was the standard dictionary that all you children used during your school years.

Grandmother May had a green thumb. She loved flowers. She would put on her blue and white bonnet with little ruffles around the face and her long dress. She spent hours with her flowers and her gardening projects. She canned stuff from the garden all summer long. Our basement was filled with a zillion quart mason jars on the shelves in the back room where we cleaned the fresh eggs. We enjoyed the fruits of her labor all year by eating what she had canned.

In her later years, Grandmother May became obsessed with weed killing. She hated dandelions with a passion, God only knows why. She got a long handled sprayer and can with weed killer and went over the entire yard. She was really thorough. Not only did she kill each and every dandelion but also she killed all the grass around it. Our yard was just funny to look at. It had little dead spots all over it, … but no dandelions, that was for sure.

Grandmother May made the sweetest tea. During the hay season she would make the tea and put it in a big old beat-up green thermos and take it to the hayfield. The men would use the aluminum screw-off cap to drink from. It was all beat up and bent as well but the men didn’t seem to care. They just loved the super cold super sweet tea she made.

She had some cooking delicacies that we all loved. Her ham potpie was one of the kids’ favorite. She introduced the spice celery salt to the family. It was particularly good on the squares of cooked dough that were in the potpie. She made oyster stew each year especially around the Election Day time. The broth was so buttery that no oysters were really needed to enjoy the stew. She always had those special little round crackers that we would put in the soup. The whole oyster stew experience was simply … Yummy!

Grandmother loved poetry and she could recite from memory many long poems that she had learned from her ancestors when she was a young child. Anita (my sister) collected a book of them. Hearing Grandmother recite them was a much better source of entertainment than the TV or radio when you children were growing up. Grandmother could even play the piano just a little. Her favorite was “Jesus, Lover of my Soul”. I don’t remember her playing anything other than that.

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If you have any questions you would like me to ask her to get her wisdom, humor and perspective on, please let me know. Her answers may surprise, entertain, or enlighten you over events and people in her life.

Posted by:

Philip, the baby of the family

Stormy Weather in Texas

This summer has been extremely hot and recently very stormy. In the last 5 days we have gone from no rain for 3 weeks to Tornado Warnings and heavy rain. People say here in Texas, “If you don’t like the weather just wait a minute because it is sure to change”.

Last Tuesday morning we were awakened by loud thunder, bright lightning and heavy rains. There were severe weather warnings in our area and a tornado warning just 15 miles north us.

I went to see Fran once everything settled down and found her asleep. I was surprised to see her still in bed at 10:00 a.m. Her CNA, Katrina, informed me that when she got there at 5:30 a.m. the storm was just getting started and they were instructed by the charge nurse that patients needed to be moved to the center of the building due to a tornado warning. She said that she moved Fran first (she is real close to Fran and has been so good with her) and then proceeded with the others.

The 130 residents spent about an hour there in the center of the building because there are windows in each room that could blow. When the storm cleared, the residents were moved directly to the dining room (about 15 feet away) for breakfast. Many of the residents were still in bed recovering from the exciting morning. Fran told me she was a little frightened but Katrina stayed close to her and talked her through it.

Philip and I got to the center Saturday about 3:30 p.m. just before another storm broke. The residents did not have to move to the lobby this time, but it sure did lightning, thunder and rain extremely hard for about 90 minutes. Occasionally the lights would go on and off and that seemed to get the residents a bit upset.

I spoke to a man named Charles, who is in a room across from Fran’s, and he told me that the morning that all the residents were moved to the center of the building he chose to stay in his room because he felt he would be safer rolling himself into the bathroom where there are no windows than being all lined up together in the center of the building. He made me laugh because he said that if a tornado had hit it would take at least a week to get all the wheelchairs untangled. Phil and I are still laughing just picturing it!

Fran is still about the same. Her days include getting out of bed in the morning, going to the dining hall for breakfast and sometimes lunch and then napping a good bit. We continue to read to her and keep her updated on the current events of her family and friends.

Levi took 4 of his friends in with him to see her the other day and he said she really enjoyed it. They asked her about all the pictures on the wall and told her about some of their college experiences. They stayed about 30 minutes and Levi said that was about all the excitement she could take. She seemed quite tired by the time they left, but hopefully, cheered up.

Fran still says funny things. She catches us off-guard when we least expect it. She still shows some "spunk" from time to time.

Fran really misses all of you and enjoys hearing from you.