Photo Friday: Grandma Susie

 It's Photo Friday. This week I am posting a photo of my Grandma, Susie Janco Petrini. 

This photo was taken at a family reunion in June 1993. Grandma had turned 92 just two months earlier. Through the years the family gathered for many special occasions, but this is probably the only gathering that we referred to as 'a family reunion'.

A few weeks earlier, Grandma had a health scare. She had passed out and and was very weak. She could hardly get out of bed. Grandma lived with my mom at the time. She told my mom that she thought she was dying and she asked for me. I went, of course. I talked to her, and other than being frail and weak, she seemed normal. As we talked I learned that the doctor had prescribed a new medication the previous week. I looked up the drug she was taking and learned that it metabolizes more slowly in seniors. The advice was to reduce the dosage. One of the side effects of taking too large a dose was dizziness! I told her that I thought it was her prescription causing the problem, and that her symptoms would lessen once the dose was adjusted. She smiled and relaxed immediately!  We visited the doctor and he reduced the dosage. The symptoms disappered and Grandma returned to normal.

One effect of Grandma's health scare was to make us all aware of the fact that Grandma's children and grandchildren had not gathered in one spot for several years. The grandkids had grown and the families scattered. We decided it was time for a family reunion! The purpose was not to celebrate a holiday, not to celebrate a wedding or graduation, not to celebrate any milestone occasion. The  purpose was to come together and celebrate Grandma and her family. Grandma lived for several years, but that was the last time we all were together with her.