I came home to Memphis, Tennessee to visit my grandmom this month. Her health journey has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. The mystery of of why her hemaglobin is always low and constant fatigue has had her in and out of hospitals and doctor’s offices her entire life. But it wasn’t she became a diabetic in her 50s that doctors prescribed a diuretic that was a few percentages higher that it should’ve been. Slowly but surely, the medication “fried her kidneys.” That’s how my mom describes it. In spite of this mishap, she’s lived a great life traveling, loving her family, and parlaying often with her close group of friends. It wasn’t until I was born that she, my great grandma, and my mom learned that they too carry the rare trait of our family’s genetic blood disorder. I have my speculations on how her diabetes came about as I’m learning more about the relationship to low A1Cs and irregular blood. Nevertheless, grandma now has stage 4 kidney disease with no intentions of going on what she refers to as the “machine” also known as dialysis. I don’t blame her. In a recent conversation, she said “The doctor seemed worried, but I’m not.” He asked her more times than she would like if she would consider dialysis and it was met with a resounding NO!

So we’re at a very emotional place with grandma. Some days she’s up and laughing and other days she struggles to verbalize her words. We understand and so does she that the state of her kidneys is having an affect on the rest of her organs and well as the function of her brain. And as I’m striving to be as calm and grounded in faith as grandma, I must admit that it is hard. In recent weeks, I’ve been determined that now more than ever to learn as much as possible about flowers that heal. Although grandma has had a beautiful life (and still does), I’m sure that without the diuretic mishap her latter years would’ve been much smoother. I’m having a good time getting grandma to try new teas, juices, and foods. It quite hilarious actually. And the discovery of wild weeds and wildflowers I’m seeing on my drive from my mom’s house to grandma is giving me life literally.

The other day, I came across tall luscious stalks of thistles with a vibrant lavender plum color. I’ve foraged many of the blooms and began a study of thistle flowers. There are many variations, but I’m focusing on the milk thistle. I completed a painting of the thistle and it’s dedicated to many of our elders who have been affected by side effects of medicine or misdiagnosed. This painting which is apart of a hair painting performance is entitled The Thistle.