Big changes on the home front

So much has happened over the past two weeks it's hard to explain it all. So I won't post about because it's really not my place to share the good news.

On a more sobering note GG's oldest living sister Alice passed away last week. She was 99. Now there are three of the Sullivan sisters left; GG, Murry and Fern. I could tell she was sad about it but at the same time it was expected. We actually thought she wasn't going to make it past Christmas but if I have learned anything about my family while doing this is that we tend to live just about to forever and just when people think we're down and out we come out of the corner swinging!

GG said "well I guess that officially makes me the matriarch now.... not that I didn't run things with a silent fist before but now it's OFFICIAL!" She did say something though that was pretty sad, well at least to me. A few hours after got the phone call about Alice she got the phone call with the good news. She said "you know Meag, I just keep sitting her and all these things just keep happening in the world outside. I fell like I just get news updates." Clearly I need to get GG out more....

Now that Alice wasn't able to make it to 100 GG is more determined than ever to do it. Especially given her crush on Obama with his tailored suits and nice teeth. ;)

She talked a little about my grandpa's brother's and sisters and how she thinks Italian families that they portray on TV must not have been written by an Italian because they have no clue what those families are really like. I have noticed that her chair has been creeping closer and closer to the TV lately....she either needs a bigger tv or she should get new glasses....

I love my Saturdays with GG. We are trying to figure out a date when I can take her up to visit her sister in Napa. Also I have started applying for grants to help me finish the project correctly so wish me luck!

GG's tips to a successfull marriage

So I tried something new this weekend. I went and got GG lunch and set up the camera on the sly so I don't think GG even knew we were filming. She was pretty free flowing this time and really just let her thoughts flow which is exactly what I wanted.

I really wanted to ask her about my grandpa this weekend and his family but when GG doesn't really feel like talking about something she is an absolute master of changing the subject. I got a few things out of her and I think on the next round I'll be able to get more. I might hand her a glass of wine for the next one. That usually does the trick. One thing she was in the mood to talk about though was marriage. Why she thinks hers lasted so long, why marriages now for the most part don't and how, in her opinion, this transfers to every other aspect of society.

GG's number 1 tip to a successful marriage: "Leave each other the hell alone!" I actually laughed out loud when she said this. "I'm serious!" She says giggling. "You live your life and do the things you enjoy and he lives his and you come together and do things when it's important but you don't get in each others way. That's why it works. But at the end of the day you are friends and you're there when they need you." I must admit the woman has a point. I guess it comes from being comfortable enough in your own self that you don't have to do every single thing together. You have your time to be you and enjoy what it is you like with out subjecting the person to something they are probably not that into.

Oh and GG's second tip.... Don't try to change them! You married the person you married because you liked who that person was. Don't try to change them into something they are not. Yeah, ok. I can see that one too. People do change over time but as long as they aren't changing in to something terrible like serial killer or Dick Cheney then it's probably not that bad. If your husband likes to sit on the couch allllll dayyyyy Sunday and watch football, or baseball, or college football, or Nascar who really cares? If it makes him happy whatever. Not my thing but it's not like I'm being forced to sit on the couch and watch it either. He actually probably likes that I don't so I'm not asking a million questions while I try to figure out what the hell is going on and if that guy who has Rice on the back of his jersey is Jerry Rice. (FYI it's not. Apparently he hasn't played since the 90s or something. Oh well. Oh and no they are not related. PS I am now free to read, or go watch a chick flick, or do anything else I want while football is on, especially the playoffs. SCORE!)

So yeah. GG's tips, Be friends, but "leave each other the hell alone," and don't try to change the other person. I guess it all comes down to just respecting who the other person is and loving them warts and all. Well.... as long as those warts don't look like Dick Cheney.