Grandma. Prayers. Valerie.

5:33pm. Inglewood. I'm at Dietra's right now. Her grandmother who is one of my clients, doesn't seem to be doing well today. She is barely responsive. She's not eating. She can't seem to stay awake. She hasn't been able to eat anything all day. So far she's had almost a half a cup of Ensure. Her nurse is here now and Dietra is talking to another doctor on the phone. They are talking about taking her in to the hospital. She doesn't seem ill...just...fading. Mostly we are just being with her. Dietra asked Grandma if she wanted to say anything and she said, "No, I don't want to bore anybody." She still has a bit of humor.

I'm a bit tired. I left Palmdale about 8 this morning to go to my cousin's funeral in Venice today. The funeral wasn't scheduled to start until 10:30 but I didn't know how the traffic would be. Turns out, I'm glad I did leave early because the freeway was pretty backed up and I didn't get to the church until 10. Then after all that rush energy the funeral, we found out, wasn't to start until 11. We walked as a family and sat in the reserved seats at about 11:15. The service went long. Gilbert was a minister and had touched many lives. There were many ministers there and they all had something to say. Not to mention his nieces, nephews, son, other family members and friends all spoke. Yeah, it was long. Then the minister preached. The sermon was good. The music was AMAZING! Say what you will about the Black church but we produce some really good music. It's been some time since I've been to church so I missed it. They had a soloist who also played piano. He sang all familiar songs. They also had an older woman who sang A leak in this old building. I almost lost it. She worked that song like I ain't NEVA heard it worked. I'm really glad I went.

After the service I went to grab a quick bite to eat then headed over to Western and Washington to give the homeless sister I've been seeing down there for many years some money. Wasn't my money. I posted yesterday that I had been thinking about this sis on Facebook and an out of town sister friend of mine sent a few dollars. She was glad to get it. When I left her I got the call from Dietra about Grandma and here I am now. I'm out in the den on the couch while D and the nurse talk in Grandma's room. I don't know if she is transitioning but if she is I am praying for a smooth transition. If she is not, I a praying for good rest and recovery. Bless her heart. Please send prayers if you believe in the power of prayer. I am praying that God's will be done and I'm praying that it's easy. I'm also praying for Dietra. She has been the main caregiver for her grandmother for fifteen years. That's a long time. She has put in some hard, long work and it has taken a lot out of her. I'm praying for her strength. I'll be here tonight with them so D is not with her alone. The doctor said that he was sending an IV over and we are just gonna watch her through the night. Just heard D say she was gonna go get her some mashed potatoes to see if she'll eat that. Let's hope so. Again, please pray.

Oh, also, today is my goddaughter Za"Yn's birthday. It's also my friend Aquiah's birthday. Z turns nine today. I've been trying to reach her parents since I got out of the funeral to no avail. Maybe they are out celebrating her. I'll try again tonight. My gift is kind of crummy. It's just money. And not that much of it. Hopefully I'll sell some art at the Stage tomorrow and I'll get her something else. If not, dinero it is. Well, let me go. According to the schedule I set for myself I should have a painting posted by now but I don't. Maybe tomorrow. I also owe myself a poem. I don't know what I'm going to write about. Maybe the funeral. We'll see.

Okay one more thing. I talked to Valerie today. We don't talk often but I'm glad we connected today. We were both driving so we had a few minutes. Thankfully her sister Gwen was in the car with her and I got to talk to her too. Gwen is healing from a stroke and is doing pretty well. She's even walking now with a walker and her speech sounds good too. Okay really, I'm logging off. Have a good one.

Love yourselves.