Apparently my grandmother is in the hospital and is not expected to live for more than a few weeks at most.  She apparently has an ulcerated colon that is bleeding, but her doctors feel she is too weak to survive surgery to repair it.  They are giving her blood transfusions and trying to make her as comfortable as possible, but they can't stop the bleeding.  My mother plans to leave for Taiwan Wednesday to see her, and does not plan to return for a month.

I do not know my grandmother very well, but I am very sad for my mother.  I know she has been trying to prepare for my grandmother's death for a long time -- my grandmother had several strokes a few years ago and has been fading slowly every since -- but I am sure it is still hard for her.  I wish I could think of something I could do for my mother, but so far the only thing I can think of is to reassure her that finding alternate child care for my son A.J. on Tuesdays should not be a major problem.

At my mother's request, we are planning to drive up to my parents' house this afternoon to have dinner with them and to socialize a bit.  In particular, my mother wants to talk to A.J. to try to explain to him that she will be going away for a long time, but also to reassure him that she will return.