cold hands ...

i am greeted each morning as i walk into gram's room with a cheery "oh hi. are you here to get me up?" i smile and say "yup. do you need to go potty?". (thank goodness we still have little kids around and can use that as our excuse for using kid words). "yes i do. you better hurry". i then pull the covers down and gently, usually, wrap her somewhat useless legs in my arms and swing them to the side of the bed. she then grabs a hold of my elbow and lifts herself into a sitting position. this morning as we performed our daily routine, gram let out a very loud "ouch". "what's wrong? are you ok?" i quickly said, fearing i had hurt her. "your hands are cold!" she said with eyes wide and her mouth puckered in a small circle. "i'm sorry. here i'll try to warm them. i then proceeded to rub them together and blow some hot air onto them. i even ran hot water over them, then went to lift her up into her chair. "ooo...you're cold." "i'm sorry", i said again. "i tried to warm them." "well" she said with a smile, "you didn't do a very good job. but thanks for helping me. now get me warm!"

i remember gram telling us that her hands were, and in fact still are, often very cold. she would tell us that when we were babies we would cringe when she changed our diapers because her hands felt like ice against our skin. i suppose it is just one of the many things my sisters, brothers and i have inherited from our mother - cold hands, drippy noses, many clearing throats, etc. oh well as the old english proverb says "cold hands, warm heart".

post script - why is it that the rest of me is burning hot but my hands are still ice cold. could it be - - - hormones!!!!