Saturday, September 22nd 2018
Shalimar, FL
It’s 7:30am CST and I am at the Bob Hope Village, knocking on my grandmother’s door for our birthday breakfast date. I am running on a 20 minute power nap and zero coffee. I have one full day with my grandmother to celebrate er 92nd birthday and I will make the most of it.
She answers the door only halfway dressed for breakfast and looks surprised that I am on time. I hug her and proudly announce that, of course, I’m on time. She says that she better hurry up and get dressed and I agree.
We eat breakfast in the dining room of her building. We sit at a table with 2 of her friends, Sophia, who is French, and Tim, who is an ex-chaplain. Bob Hope Village is a retirement community for military officer veterans and their spouses. The community is an extremely interesting mix of nationalities and politics. My grandmother lived in Russia for many years with her late husband as part of several Cold War operations and many other members of the Bob Hope Village have similar stories.
While the company is good, the food is abysmal and the coffee is even worse. After breakfast, she takes me to the “coffee corner” in the main lobby, where we can drink unlimited coffee from the community Keurig and watch people walk by. Several residents and staff members stop by to chat with us. I know that my grandmother wants to show me off and I am embarrassed but strangely affirmed at the same time.
When we discuss the day, my grandmother announces that she really wants to go to Walmart and buy a lamp shade. We explore a few other ideas, but Walmart is the clear front runner. I agree and we head out to my rental to make the drive. My grandmother insists on giving me directions and after only a few wrong turns, we safely arrive at the Walmart Supercenter in Ft. Walton Beach. We spend about an hour walking around and end up buying shampoo and a lamp shade. At one point, I wonder how she ended up with a lamp without a lamp shade, but then I remind myself that it doesn't really matter. We are here to have fun in Walmart.
Next, we drive to the Longhorn Steakhouse to meet one of her friends for lunch. We arrive a little bit early and catch up over Diet Coke and water while we wait for Teresa. Once she arrives we order. My grandmother gets shrimp kabobs, Teresa orders a salad and I get a small steak with spinach. My grandmother alternates between musing on how tired I must feel and encouraging me to order some wine to go with my steak. I am running on fumes and decline the lunchtime wine multiple times. I want to yell that I don't want a nap, but I hold it together.
Eventually, our conversation turns to something called a Jitterbug. It takes me a few minutes to deduce this is a cell phone designed for seniors. My grandmother, who is extremely tech adverse, has interest in owning a Jitterbug. I am over the moon!
After lunch, I make a few calls to electronics stores to see who may have a Jitterbug that we can go look at. Having not bought electronics in real life in the last 5 years, it takes me a few minutes to remember who sells cell phones. The consensus seems to be Sears, which is just around the corner. We walk into the Sears in Ft. Walton Beach and it’s just as I remember from my childhood.
A very nice woman offers to help us immediately. They do not have a Jitterbug in stock, but she invites us to sit down on one of their couches while she asks around. The store is empty and spends nearly 30 minutes finding a Jitterbug for us at Best Buy and getting to know my grandmother. I forgot how southerners add the word “Miss” in front of the names of older women. It's incredibly charming. I sit quietly as the two of them make friends. My lack of sleep slowly starts to creep up on me and I am all of the sudden overwhelmed by emotion. First I feel guilt for only visiting once a year. Second I am so appreciative of the people who who are kind to my grandmother. As the sales associate shares her personal phone number with my grandmother in an offer to help her set up her phone, I am actually fighting back tears. I chew on a few Altoids at once in an effort to shock myself back into the present moment.
Our next stop is back to the Bob Hope Village for a well earned siesta. I walk my grandmother back to her room and we agree to reconvene in 1.5 hours for a trip to Best Buy and then dinner. I am too tired to nap, so I spend my siesta reading and meditating.
Later that night, after only one wrong turn, we arrive at Best Buy. Again, we are met with a helpful sales associate immediately. They have a packaged Jitterbug, but do not have a demo unit. I ask if the phone can run on wifi-only and she says yes (later, I will find this statement to be false). We resolve to buy a Jitterbug online and run it on wifi for a while, to test out text and a few apps before setting up cell service. The sales associate is also extremely accommodating, showing my grandmother options for training courses on cell phones and the Internet. She doesn’t go as far as providing her personal phone number, but she does give her card and seems genuinely concerned about my grandmother's ability to use the phone in my absence. For the second time today, I leave a consumer electronics department fighting back tears.
By now, it’s almost 8pm and it’s time for dinner. My grandmother recommends a place called Bone Fish, which is right down the street. We grab a large booth in the bar and decide to order appetizers only. She orders more shrimp and I get the mussels. I also opt for a glass of Chardonnay and my grandmother has the same. We enjoy a long dinner, where she inevitably makes friends with our server. When it’s time to leave he insists on giving us desert on the house. It’s banana foster, which has been on my list of things to try for many years. We end up closing down the restaurant.
When we get back to the Bob Hope Village, it’s so late that the main lobby is locked. I have to stand outside for 10 minutes with my grandmother while security comes to let her back in.
We agree to meet at 9am tomorrow for breakfast before my flight home.
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