my grandmothers both living alone since each of these events, my gran in her little house, my grandma in a small apartment. miraculously. both of them now well into their 90s.
except that my grandma, the younger of the two (a spritely 94), slipped and fell last week. had to go to the hospital, had to have surgery, transfer hospitals several times. had a reaction to the anaesthetic. and has been recovering, just slowly. i think about how, on the days my back doesn't like me, how difficult it can be just getting out of bed. what that will be like in five decades.
i've spent the week trying not to worry, knowing my family will let me know immediately if things take a bad turn, that silence is indicative of healing, or at least rest. there'd been talk in my family about maybe renting a place this summer, having everyone over. this seems unlikely now, though i'll still try to book some tickets, take a week, spend some time just visiting and doing very little.
in the back of my head: my parents are older than my grandparents were when i was a kid. grandparents now themselves.