My grandma's cousin, Jalane had to travel from Spokane to North Dakota in July for a couple weeks. On her way to her destination, she spent a couple nights at my house. The last time I saw her was in 2006 when she helped go through a few of the things in Betty's house when we were trying to box it all up.
She and I have a common interest in family genealogy and fortunately she is able to identify a few people that I can't. It's great that she's around to help me with this huge project.
She arrived in Bozeman July 8. Jean, Bruce, and I met her at Outback Steakhouse. It had been awhile since we'd eaten there, and so we decided on that as our initial meeting place. We had a lot to catch up on, and it was great to visit with her.
It was the only opportunity Jean had to see her at all this year. Jean was hoping to be able to see her later because Jean was going to make a trip to Washington to see some of Bruce's family, but Jalane was still in Montana when she was going home.
Friday the 8th Jalane stayed at Bruce's and Jean's condo in Belgrade. The following day Jalane went to Livingston to see Grandma and Betty and then come see me in Gardiner. Jalane hadn't seen Grandma since her stroke and had been deeply concerned about the situation. When Grandma saw Jalane, she didn't recognize her, but knew who she was. Grandma still has a sense of humor because she remarked something like, "you aren't the spoiled brat that I remember!" Grandma did have a lot of childhood memories with Jalane.
On the other hand, Jalane was appalled at Betty's condition. Literally, Betty is just a breathing body. There's not much left in her. It's amazing that she's lived this long. Betty is still in Hospice's care, and has been continuing to decline since then. She doesn't recognize anyone anymore except occasionally. One time she recognized me, but since she's had Alzheimer's Disease, she's always mistaken me for my father. Betty's condition was a stark contrast to five years ago when Jalane walked into the nursing home and Betty suddenly blurted out, "Jalane!"
That afternoon Jalane arrived at my house in Gardiner. She had bought a lot of groceries before getting to my house and had all sorts of goodies. Jalane has become a master of salads since she recovered from breast cancer. That evening we shared a glass of wine out by the picnic table. She liked being outside at our house and it made her feel very much at home. Before I had to go to work that night, she made me dinner to eat while I was at Super 8. Wow! It was just like I had a mom again!
Sundays are kind of funny days for me. I get off work in the morning at 6:00 am. Then I have to go to bed so that I can be back at work by 2:00 pm. While I was sleeping and at work on Sunday, Jalane delved into some of our family history information in the house. She got really caught up in the sappy love letter that Albert Bolt sent his future bride in 1891. I've previously posted the contents in Mush. As well, she read letters revolving around the death of her uncle and my great granduncle Virgil. He died of tuberculosis when he was a young man. Those are interesting letters too. I'll have to publish those sometime.
Monday, July 11 Jalane continued to travel to North Dakota, her final destination. She was only there for a couple weeks, and then had to come back to Spokane.
Yesterday, August 3, Jalane came back to Gardiner on her way back to Spokane, Washington. Jean spent the night in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho last night on her way back to Montana, so maybe they'll cross paths today as they travel, but we'll see. While Jalane was here last night, I made her a tasty meal of grilled salmon, rice, and peas. We had a glass of wine with dinner and talked. I showed her some pictures from this year, telling her about my bobcat story on April 1. I told her about Adam's and my camping trip (I'll attach a link once I write about it). She was inspired by the photos and really liked dinner.
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