Okay, first let me say how much I ADORE my grandmother. She is 90 and totally with it. I love her forwardness and her sass, and the part of her that's not afraid to tell it like it is. I know many old people get this way, but she has always been this way. And I love it.
I have to tell you, today I realized something. She is getting old. REALLY old. I say this with a giggle. The same giggle that turned into a "guffaw" (don't you love that word?) when I relayed this story to my mother on the phone earlier. My mother is technically challenged...to a fault. Last Christmas my husband decided she needed a laptop. Christmas this year she said, "My computer isn't working. I can't connect to the internet." As soon as I sat down at the thing I just giggled. She looked at me, "What!?" she asked.
"Uh, Mom? You have to PLUG IT IN!" She had somehow messed with the wires and plugs and unplugged the silly thing. We gave her grief all night. She made me promise not to tell my husband, for fear he'd take it back. She cracks me up.
So anyway, I called her tonight to make her feel better about that ignorance. Granted, Grandma is 90 vs. her mere 63 years, but I felt she needed the encouragement. (smile)
Grandma's hearing has been deteriorating over the past few years. My uncle recently had her fitted for hearing aids. She never wears them, much to his disappointment, but was so grateful to get them. I have come to the conclusion she just doesn't know how to work them...because after all, this "technical challenge" thing is hereditary, you know.
So grandma tells me today that her phones aren't working. They don't ring. We gave her our old cordless YEARS ago, so I'm thinking it's probably about time for it to wear out. She said she bought two new phones, but they don't ring very loud. Hmmmm... I pick her up and we drive to Radio Shack with the phones to return. All the while I can't help but wonder, 'can she just not hear them'? The lady at the counter says to me, "Oh yes, I remember your grandmother." (Who doesn't? She makes quite an impression on people...especially if she is having trouble communicating with them.) After apologizing for whatever transpired yesterday in case she was rude to the nice woman, she showed me an attachement ringer for the phones to make them ring louder - really loud. So I bought them and we went home to test them out.
"What does it do again?" I asked.
"Nothing, they don't ring! And when one goes out, none of them work. It's this one, right here (pointing to the cordless we gave her). But when it doesn't work none of them do."
I picked up my cell phone and dialed her number. The phones rang. "Do you hear them ringing, Grandma?"
"This one, right here? Yes."
Then I told her to turn on her TV like she watches during the day. OH MY WORD!!!! She had the thing turned up as loud as it would go. The glass in the apartment was shaking, the insulation was begging for mercy, and all I could think about was the building she lived in and the poor tenants she shared it with. Wow. I dialed the phone and asked if she could hear it ringing. Bingo, problem solved. At this point, she did have her hearing aids in so I told her to take them out. She said she couldn't even tell I was talking, except that my lips were moving. Wow. Definitely we have found the source of the problem. Oh, and also the phone in the bedroom's ringer was turned OFF! Of course.
We tried the ringer adapters that increased the volume and intensity of the ringing, but when I did that the phones went dead. She then says to me, "Just go in the kitchen and pick that phone up, then shake it and they'll work again."
Are you serious?
"Yeah, you just SHAKE it. Then they'll work again."
Um, yeah...no.
I tried to explain, after several attempts of her telling me it was our old cordless that was causing the problem, that if one phone was bad it would be just that phone that would not work and the others would work fine. Apparently this was not clear. I then took the attachments off and the phones worked again. She was confused to no end. John and I just got new phones so I will let her try them tomorrow and see if they work better for her.
We also have appointments at the hearing aid place and her doctor tomorrow. I am concerned that either she doesn't know how to work the aids, or else her hearing is nearly gone completely. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Blessings to all!
Kelly
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