Violet Robinson

One hour ago I found out that my grandma Buddy passed away. She was the mother of my Step dad Maurice. She was a quirky little woman who I remember best as a great card player, server of chocolate wafers and Tang, and fun friend of my childhood. As I grew up, he tiny stature seemed so much smaller yet she was always sweet and happy and fun to visit. Her only biological grandchild is my brother David, however she was grandmother to myself, my brother John and our cousins Shawn and Karen.

In the past several years, Buddy suffered with dementia which took her mind in episodes that were small at first and stretched bigger and bigger. Sometimes she would just forget where she was, and when she could not take care of herself any more, my mom and step dad moved her from the manor here in Linden to live in their home. My mother took care of buddy, her personal care needs, along with the twice a week visits from homecare. She was a lovely fixture in my parents house for a few years, shuffling around, sitting in the sun, making jam sandwiches and always eagerly awaiting her sons visits! Sometimes she fell on uncertain legs, sometimes she made tea by ripping the teabag open and drinking the grounds, but most of the time we could still make her laugh.

I know that the time Buddy lived in my parents home was a test between Mom and Maurice, and it was many sleepless nights, messy mornings and lost time for Mom. It was a hard decision to send her to a nursing home but when she started getting into risky situations like turning the gas stove on at night and not lighting or cooking anything, or going out to the driveway to go for a drive at 3am.

The Linden nursing home doesn't have televisions and Buddy always loved TV and music so her sons and my mom decided that St. Mary's in Trochu was the best place for her, and the care there was wonderful! She was there for her remaining months. I went to visit her there once when she first moved in. She didn't know who I was and was angry when I tried to get her to remember. I left in tears and couldn't go back.

Last week, I had to go to that building because my doctor is in there, and so Maurice and I shared a car to Trochu. We wheeled Buddy to a quiet sitting area and had a visit but she didn't want to wake up. After trynig to talk to her, and visit for about 30 minutes, we decided to wheel her into the TV room and head home. We knew that she hadn't been responding much anymore and I could see Maurice was very sad. Just as we were dropping her off in the TV room, she finally seemed awake and looked up at Maurice and for the breifest moment, she knew who he was! She would have smiled if she could have. She held his hand and rubber her thumb back and forth, the way she always did. It was beautiful. That was 7 days ago.

Buddy had 3 sons, Steven, Jim and Maurice and was predeceased by her husband Maurice Sr. She missed her Maurice terribly when he passed away, and could sometimes be seen having visits with him or just talking to him through his picture. Its comforting to know that she now has eternity with her sweetheart.

I will miss her dearly.