Morning with Nana

I spent three hours with my grandma this morning.

I call her Nana, a name bestowed upon her by my cousins 15 years before I was born. Nana has 6 children, 12 grandchildren and a frog named Pippy. She keeps Pippy in a terrarium by the kitchen sink.

Nana and I sat outside on the back deck. Dressed in a green and white abstract shirt, Nana looked pretty. Dressed in basketball shorts and a t-shirt, I looked like her cleaning lady. I feared spying neighbors would think I was. I didn’t mind being portrayed as a cleaning lady, I love cleaning ladies. I just wanted the acknowledgement that I was her grandchild.

I gently massaged Nana’s back. She closed her eyes and enjoyed.

Nana looked at my foot…

…and pinched my big toe.

“Papa wants to be pinched,” she said.

Nana pointed to the sky. “Look,” she said excitedly.

Nana had hired a plane to write a message in the sky. Isn’t that so special? She hoped all of her 12 grandchildren would see the writing, no matter where they lived. “Do you think Megan in D.C. will see it?” Nana asked me, “what about Kaitin in Jersey?!” She was so excited.

Nana used to be an english teacher and librarian so I was surprised to see the word “Love” spelled “Luv”. I did not bring up the misspelling. I feared it would make me appear ungrateful. It was the most effort anyone had ever gone to to tell me they loved me. I was flattered.

I went inside to call my sister.

I returned and discovered Nana drank my entire iced coffee. She let out a tiny burp. “Scoozies,” she said. “Scoozies” is the slang for “Excuse Me”.

We walked around the deck. Nana held her forehead. I knew right away she was having another psychic premonition.

She predicted the Giant’s would win their football game today, that it would rain “at least twice this week”, and her frog, Pippy, was soon going to become pregnant. I didn’t have the heart to tell her frogs lay eggs.

We had a great day.