Text Me Gram!

I talk to my Grandma every day, and have for most of my life. I find great comfort in her voice and wisdom.
Recently, my Grandpa passed and as you can imagine, as painful as it was on me- it was tenfold for her.
They were happily married for fifty-four years. I've never meet a couple more in love, and I doubt I ever will.
After my Grandpa passed, I realized that life for her was going to be completely new-
...Just a few days ago I found out that my Grandma had never pumped gas before!
(She confided in my sister that "Pops" always did that for her...)
My sister called my crying, and my sister NEVER cries.
It's just little things that continue to spring up now that Grandpa isn't here.
Make no mistake, my Grandma is a very intelligent woman! Strong, passionate, creative and brilliant... Nevertheless, there are certain things that she never had to do, because when you love someone as much as my Grandpa loved her, you take care of them.
...Another thing my Grandpa used to do is remind my Grandma to take her pills... A few years back my Grandma was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. A devastating blow for everyone to hear, fortunately the pills that she has to take four times a day seem to really help fight the signs and allow her to function on a semi-normal basis (early morning and late nights are tough on her) but like I said, Gram is a tough cookie!

Once my Grandpa was gone, I realized that she would not remember to take her pills... which would cause the disease to rapidly take over her nervous system, and I am no where ready to lose her too!
I decided that my dad already has enough on his plate being the only son, and my sister has done so much for Gram already that I would be responsible for calling her on a regular basis and remind her when to take her pill...
I already call her once a day anyway... why not make it four! As luck would have it, my lack of a "real" job gives me privileges that most people don't have... time.

It's hard to believe four months have passed, and Gram and I have this down to a science. Because my time zone is an hour earlier in Los Angeles (the rest of my family live in Colorado) I set my alarm to go off an hour before... the first one wakes me up everyday at six a. m. sharp! I roll over, call Gram and she says, "Thank you! I'll take it right now... Love you!" and I hang up and go back to sleep.

But then there are those days when I have a mild panic attack. ...Today was one of them!
I go to call her on her home phone, and there is no answer. Naturally, I call her cell phone... and again, no answer!
The fear doesn't set in right away; first I call my dad, then my sister, then my dads wife, then my Grams neighbors... then after none of them know where she is, I start to freak!

She could be lying on the bathroom floor or on the side of the road for all we know! I'm all the way in California, so I'm no help. So I begin to dial 911... just as my Grandma calls.

Gram: "I'm here babe, I'm okay... I'm sorry. I was in church and forgot to turn my phone back on. I'm sorry I worried you!"

Me: "Gram, JUST LEAVE YOUR PHONE ON IN CHURCH! ...Everyone at my church does! So should you! I'm sorry, I don't mean to yell at you, but you had me worried sick! I almost called the police!"

(On a side note: I have to stop yelling at my Grandma.. She's seventy-four years old, she's not a child!)

I decided to come up with a plan. I'm going to teach my Grandma how to text message... This way, she can leave her phone on silent no matter where she goes, and I will always be able to get ahold of her! I can text message her to take her pill and she can text me back! I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do this from LA, but where there's a pill there's a way!
I never thought I'd see my Grandma using a cell phone... so I don't think it will be that great a leap for her to figure out the text world. Let's just hope she doesn't find out about sexting!
Oh who am I kidding... she watches Dateline! She probably already knows!
I love you Gram!
P. S. It's time to take your pill!