Sorry I’ve been away. Here’s why

I’ve been away from the blog for a few weeks helping care for Nanna, who will be 93 next month. She is in the hospital and, when Baby Girl and I visit her, the doctors and nurses assume she is our grandmother.

She is in every way that counts although she is not a blood relative.

When Baby Girl was two months old, I needed to hire a caregiver. Because I was only returning to work part time and my hours would vary, I didn’t want to take her to a daycare. After asking around for recommendations, I found Nanna.

She was 65 years old when she showed up at our door for her initial interview. She was tiny but it was obvious this woman was a firecracker. She was about 5 feet tall back then and weighed maybe 90 pounds – even then, you could just about fit her in your pocket, but she has shrunk over the years. In fact, she is so tiny that her bed alert continually goes off in the hospital because it won’t register her weight. The nurses think she has tried to get up only to find our tee-tiny Nanna bundled under the covers.

We have been really scared at times while Nanna has been hospitalized. She is doing much better today and may get to go home soon. We love her dearly.

Harper Lee once wrote: “You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family.” She may have been a brilliant author who won a Pulitzer but about this she was wrong.

We chose Nanna and Nanna chose us. Baby Girl is 28 now, and married. But Nanna is truly her grandmother.

As it turns out, we chose well.