CrossFit Athletic Group

/Chris knocks on the door

/shuffling footsteps from inside, some kind of mumbling

Grandma: Frank! Someone's at the door.

/door opens slowly

Chris: Hi Grandma!

Grandma: Kevin! Come on in.

Chris: Uh...

Grandma: Oh! I mean, Chris. Sorry!

Chris: It's all good. Can Chris come in?

Grandma: Sure, sure, any time.

/walks in to the living room, Chris sits on the floor, Grandma Sue plops down in her chair in the corner

Grandma: Can I fix you anything to eat?

Chris: Maybe in a little bit. I was seeing if I could take you on a walk around the house. It's a little too cold to do it outside.

Grandma: Oh, I don't know. I don't think I can. I better digest a little bit.

Chris: I wasn't really asking Granny.

/she chuckles

Grandma: Well okay, in a little bit. It's just one of those days, I guess... what day is it again?

Chris: I mean, does it really matter?

Grandma: I guess not. Can I fix you something to eat?

Chris: In a bit, maybe.

/footsteps coming from upstairs, the half-door thing swings open

Uncle Frank: Christopher!

Chris: Hey Uncle Frank!

Uncle Frank: Taking Grandma on a walk?

Chris: You know it! Might as well get it over with now, Granny!

Grandma: Well, okay I guess.

Uncle Frank: While you guys are doing that, I'll be downstairs on the work bench. Let me know if you need anything. Be careful, she's 95 now!

Chris: 94 actually.

Uncle Frank: 95 by the time you write about this on your little thing.

Chris: Fair enough.

/Grandma Sue tries once, twice, and finally gets up out of her chair, grabs her walking stick and any furniture along the way in a walking/shuffling sequence (WSS) to the kitchen and family room with Chris keeping a hand on the back of her shirt just in case.

Grandma: Do you want to fix yourself something to eat?

Chris: Nice try. Turn on around now.

/repeat WSS back towards the living room.

Grandma: Can I sit down now?

Chris: That wooden bench in the other room from the 40's is much more comfortable than this chair. Let's go back.

Grandma: Okay.

/repeat WSS to the family room. Upon returning Uncle Frank had turned on AM 580 on the radio at a soft volume

Grandma: Am I done now?

Chris: Almost. We're going to go there, back, and there. Then we'll be done. You won't remember that, but that's the plan.

/repeat WSS ther, back, and there, stopping only for brief sitting and reminding of how many WSS are left.

/finally, they rest in the family room by the kitchen.

Chris: Good job Grandma! Thank you for walking with me.

Grandma: Thank you for walking with me. It's rough getting old.

Chris: Do you ever worry about being old?

/she shrugs

Grandma: No, not really. Nothing I can really do about it. I just can't remember things all the time.

Chris: It's all good. You remember the important things. Except my name sometimes!

/she chuckles

Grandma. Yeah I don't know what I was thinking. So, do you have a lot of customers?

Chris: Sort of. We seem to have a lot of people in every day.

Grandma: Good. You like to keep busy don't you?

Chris: HELL NAH OLD-ASS GRANNY! WE DON'T USE THAT WORD

Chris: Err... it's definitely fun when we get a lot of people. Hopefully we can get back to that soon.

Grandma: Are you nervous about the flu going around?

Chris: It's definitely strange now. Are you?

/she shrugs

Grandma: No, not really. Nothing I can really do about it.

/beat

Grandma: Can I fix you something to eat?

Chris: In a little bit. You know you asked me that already!

Grandma: Sorry, I forget things sometimes.

Chris: Was there ever any bad sickness in Tennessee when you were a kid?

Grandma: Well... no, not really. Well... my dad was a cripple. He had polio. He caught it when he was a kid when he went to go play at his friend's house?

Chris: And he caught polio? That's something you could catch?

Grandma: Yeah, I guess he got too close to him while he was over there. He was crippled the rest of his life. They didn't have the shot for it I guess.

Chris: So what did you guys do about that growing up?

Grandma: Well... my sister Juanita - she was retarded, you know - she always needed help too. So we helped her and daddy with things. Tanning the hides. Cleaning up after the chickens. We had a pig too. I moved to Detroit in my 20's so I could work and send money back to them.

Chris: When did you guys move here in Royal Oak?

Grandma: Oh... let's see... 1973 maybe? '74?

Chris: Why did you guys move?

Grandma: It was getting bad there. We could see the riots from our house on Forestlawn and the neighborhood wasn't as safe as it used to be.

Uncle Frank (shouting from downstairs): We were the only white family on the block! Of course it wasn't safe!

Chris: What happened after that?

/she shrugs

Grandma: I don't know. It just kind of passed like everything else.

/beat

Grandma: Do you want to fix yourself something to eat?

Chris: In a sec. I'll have a few cookies though.

/Chris reaches into "Ol' Reliable," aka the cookie jar by the couch

Grandma: You don't really eat sweets, do you?

Chris: Only when I'm here!

Grandma: Do you drink coffee?

Chris: Nope.

Grandma. Never picked up that bad habit I guess. When I first moved here some of the girls I worked with made fun of me for drinking coffee all the time.

Chris: What did you do about it?

Grandma: Well... I don't remember now. Doesn't really matter, I guess.

Chris: Were you mad at them?

Grandma: I don't think so. They're right, I guess. I do drink a lot of coffee.

Chris: You know I asked you all this stuff last time I was here, right?

/she chuckles

Chris: I don't think I've asked you this one before, though: when is the last time you actually got mad at someone?

Grandma: Oh... I don't remember.

Chris: I'm beginning to realize that question never had a chance...

Grandma: I don't know. I just forget about it I guess. And by the time I remember it's already done with.

/Chris laughs

Chris: You're amazing!

/she chuckles

Grandma: Oh no, no...

Chris: Seriously, I think your memory loss makes it impossible to get nervous or offended by anything.

/beat

Grandma: Do you want to fix yourself something to eat?

/buzzing from the woodbench downstairs adds a bass to the Patsy Cline on the radio

Chris: Now that you mention it...

/all the foods are eaten until it's time to leave