Madly in Love

This past weekend, Engineer and I were called up from the ranks.
We were asked to take care of his ailing grandparents while his uncle (their usual caregiver) was out of town.

Neither of us have an affinity for medicine.
Nor do we have any clue how to navigate someone else's healthcare.
What we do have is serious resolve and a desire to honor our parents and grandparents.

Nearly 16 years ago we vowed to love each in sickness and in health - we did not specify in whose sickness and health we were loving each other.

But this "Madly" post is not about us, it's about him.  My love.  My hero.  My Engineer.

You can tell a good man by the way he treats his elders.  Engineer is a good man.

My heart swelled at the genuine concern for his grandparents' welfare and the treatment they were given from each facility we visited that day.

I watched as Engineer patiently guided his grandpa through the paperwork.  Filling out most of it himself and deciphering actual medical history through Grandpa's understandable frustration.

He confidently liaised between doctors, pharmacists, nurses, aids, hospitals, and home healthcare.

But it was the way he tenderly lifted his grandma from the wheelchair to the car and back again, over and over and over that truly revealed his inner and outer fortitude.

I know it was hard for him - seeing his grandparents in such a vulnerable state - but he selflessly carried on.

After several hours of being poked and prodded, Grandma was visibly exhausted.  We all were.

At the hospital, Engineer was attempting to gently lift her listless body from the car.
As he maneuvered her gingerly into the wheelchair for the umpteenth time that day, he looked into her eyes, smiled at her, and said with such sweet strength, "Grandma, I've got you."

The first and only time that day that I saw lucidity flash across Grandma's face was when she met his gaze and replied with assurance, "You've got me."

Precious moments often occur when they're least expected - like under a hospital porte cochere.

1-4-3 EM!  I am so thankful that you've got me.