"Saint Betty"

It's true what they say -

"Behind every great man stands an even greater woman."

and my grandmother is living proof of it.

She has been taking care of my grandfather since the day they were married (I mean, isn't that what we're for, taking care of our men?)  ;)  and she has especially been doing so over the last few years due to his advancing Alzheimer's disease.

It's been a long and grueling disease,
one that has both worn out my grandmother
and taken away my grandfather all at the same time.

But Saint Betty
(yes, Saint Betty - as she has been dubbed this by all, not just one but all of Hospice)
has become my hero.

She has refused to put him in a home unless she just absolutely-could-not-do-it-alone anymore.

...and now?

We're on the brink, I think, and it's not easy.
Not for me.
Not for my family.
And especially not for Saint Betty.

You see, she's stuck by him.
Through thick and thin.
Because.
He.
Is.
Her.
Husband.
And because she made that vow.


And if that isn't the definition of a saint, then I don't know what is.

I'm crying as I write this, and I'm not sure at this point if it's tears of sadness...
                 ...or tears of relief...
                                  ...or possibly even tears of joy (?)...
...because my grandfather is about to be released from what has had to have been his own personal hell
...and because my grandmother is about to be released from her own personal hell
...and because I love them both.  With all my heart.


I'm not ready for this.
None of us are.
And I don't think you ever can prepare yourself for this.

But there is, without a doubt, a special place in Heaven for "Saint Betty"
and she will never in a million years know how much more I love her for doing what she has been doing.