Hello Lemmy. I have completed my bachelor’s degree and will start a master’s program in April. This means that I am lucky to have a lot of free time in the next few months. I want to take this opportunity to spend time with my grandma, because she is very old and I probably won’t have that chance again. My question is, how would you spend time with your grandma if she was still alive or you had the necessary time?

  • aramis87@fedia.io
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    2 天前

    Get some kind of a voice recorder; if it’s an app, set it for the highest quality recordings.

    If you have any old family recordings - 8mm film, VHS/camcorder, whatever - gather then together. Whatever you or your family have is great, but check with your grandmother herself, any of her siblings that are still around, etc. Get the films converted if necessary.

    Play them on the television for her, and record the session (if it’s silent just use the app; if the film has sound, use a microphone or something to isolate the sound, or even just play it muted). She’ll likely talk about the people on the screen, where they are, what her memories of them are, that kind of thing. Later on, you can overlay her voice onto the recording as a separate soundtrack. Make multiple copies and distribute to relatives.

    If there are other older people who might also have memories of the people on the film, host a family reunion of those who can come, and record all their voices talking about it (soundtrack definitely off for this!). Later on, you can use voice-to-text to generate a transcript of the conversation and then add in who’s talking when; if you get ambitious, you can add those in as subtitles.

    Actually, even if there aren’t other people who remember the people in the films, a family reunion would be an opportunity to share those images with the rest of the family. And if you don’t have old films, a family reunion would be lovely anyway. If she has a birthday during this period, throw her a party.

    Sit down and go through all the family photos together. Not (necessarily) the ones of your family vacations, but the old black and white ones of all the people who have died. Voice record that as well; you’ll likely get a few stories there as well. Don’t slow things down by trying to label the backs of all the photos as you go, but maybe scribble post-it notes as you go, and then go back later on and write the details down on the back of the photos.

    Make sure to go through all of HER photos as well - there will be people and events that don’t show up anywhere else. Sometimes they’ll just be random friends or co-workers; other times they’ll be relatives. Don’t forget to include any photos on the walls or on frames on the mantle, nightstand, etc!

    While you’re going through the films and photos, see if there’s any odd-ish stuff that you might want to account for as well: slides, negatives, reel-to-reel or cassette recordings, whatever. Remember that you don’t have to do all of this yourself; there’s likely someone in your family or friends (or companies) that has the ability to convert a bunch of this stuff to a more usable (and standardized!) format for you.

    Are there foods that she makes that are particularly good, or bring back memories, or are family recipes? Get and preserve the recipes, ask about the stories or people behind them, maybe make some of the dishes together.

    A little bit grim, but ask her about the family health history for everyone she can remember; that gives you information for risk factors and potentially inheritable conditions and diseases. You can also use this to brush up on your genealogy.

    Go through her address book together; there will be some relatives in there that you rarely or never heard of.

    If she’s up for it, go over some of her jewelry, furniture and knickknacks together. You’re not looking for value, you’re looking for “oh, that’s great Uncle John’s desk, he got it when he was clearing out barns during the Great Depression and spent the winter refinishing it, he always loved that thing” and “oh, this watch was your great Aunt Marie’s, you pin it to your chest you see, it’s upside down because she was a nurse and that’s how they timed your pulse, great great Auntie Anne gave it to her when she graduated nursing school”, etc. If you can, maybe take a picture of the item while she’s talking (if you’re recording on your phone, maybe use a second phone for photos so you’re not disturbing the recording).

    You said that she’s old. Remember that all of this may be very tiring for her, and that the effort will compound over the days. Don’t press for 3-hour sessions every day; maybe just do an hour or even a half-hour and see how her energy is. Note that old people tend to have their own times of day that they’re at their best, and that may be early morning or later at night; adjust to her “best hours” schedule as best you can.

    [Continued in next comment]

    • aramis87@fedia.io
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      2 天前

      [continued from previous comment]

      If you (or she) has the money for it, ask her if there’s anyone she’d like to visit. If it’s someone local-ish, you can drive her; if it’s not local, perhaps you can go with her on a train or plane. It may also turn out that in-person isn’t feasible (too much travel, the other person doesn’t want people to see how they’re living, whatever), in which case try to arrange for something like a FaceTime call. [If traveling, visiting other people, or having a family reunion, get Grandma her flu, covid, pneumonia, and RSV shots; and ask that anyone who’s ill not come. Have N95 masks for people who show up ill anyway.]

      Ask her if there’s anything on her bucket list that you can do together. Maybe she wants to go see a landmark or a play or have a Michelin-star meal. See what you can do together.

      If she wants to talk about it, ask her about funeral arrangements. Does she have a preferred funeral home? Has that funeral home handled burials for the family before (they keep detailed notes on all funerals; you can go in and say “just copy Uncle Algy’s funeral from 1987” and they’ll do it). Does she want to be buried or cremated? If buried, does she have a preferred cemetery, or even a plot? If she has a plot, where’s the deed kept (in the US, they need the deed before they’ll permit a burial in the plot). Are there particular flowers, hymns/music, poems or readings she’d like included? Is there particular jewelry she’d like to wear and does she want to be buried with it? Is there anything she’d like enclosed in her casket with her - her childhood teddy bear, the cremains of her cat, etc?

      Is there anything she’d like to make arrangements for that you can expedite? Ideally she has a living will/advance directives and a medical power of attorney. Ideally she has a will. Ideally, if there are specific possessions that she wants to go to specific people, she has that listed somewhere (and hopefully a codicil in her will to that effect).

      And while she certainly knows it: tell her verbally that you love her. Bring her some flowers, even just a tiny bouquet, to brighten up her space. And maybe some snacks that she’s particularly fond of, that she can nibble on.

      There’s probably more, but that’s what’s coming to mind at the moment. I hope you and your grandmother have a wonderful time together; I think it’s fantastic that you have this time to spend with her!