Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: grandmother
Heritage
I put a yellow rose in my grandmother’s casket. I asked the funeral director to let me into the room early so I could hide the rose between her arm and the silk folds of the casket lining. Her grave is just a few… Continue Reading “Heritage”
Heavy Lifting: Fifty Years of Mothering
I’m impressed you could carry that baby with one arm up the stairs. The baby actually has two arms but I get your drift. You’re surprised an old lady can carry a 24 pound baby on her hip and still hold on to the… Continue Reading “Heavy Lifting: Fifty Years of Mothering”
Held
I hold the baby during dinner. It isn’t hard because I can hold the baby with one hand, she is that little, and eat with the other. Dinner is salmon, rice, and asparagus, and the last of the melon, food for nights holding a… Continue Reading “Held”
My First Three Days as an Au Pair
After a three-day apprenticeship, my twin infant grandsons were left in my care. I would say ‘our care’ but my husband was asleep on the couch for the duration so it seems unnecessarily inclusive and gratuitous to allow much credit to flow his way.… Continue Reading “My First Three Days as an Au Pair”
The Original Nana: The Sweet Influence of Grandmothers
Today, I miss my mother-in-law. It’s Passover and I miss her. She was the only person on earth who ever loved my husband more than me and because of that, she was formidable in all ways. First of all, she was completely, totally, through… Continue Reading “The Original Nana: The Sweet Influence of Grandmothers”
Now I Know
A few years ago, we took our granddaughter camping. It rained all night, thundered with lightening strikes, and in the morning everything was soaked but the day was bright and clear. We went hiking up a trail to a lookout where we could see… Continue Reading “Now I Know”
Reach Back
The grandmother gig can be a tough one. You can be in the presence of a grandchild who clearly needs a mother more than a grandmother and though you know very well how to be a mother, you can’t be that child’s mother. She… Continue Reading “Reach Back”
Sorority Sister
Today, the babies who were born a bit too early and spent their first 6 weeks in the NICU are as robust and healthy a pair of beautiful boys as you have ever seen. One miracle led to another, you might say. Today is… Continue Reading “Sorority Sister”
When She Had Endless New Years
She had dozens of New Years before she knew the end was near. Eighty six of them. The young woman in this picture, with one hand in her pocket and the other on the arm of her husband, is my grandmother. She’s not looking… Continue Reading “When She Had Endless New Years”
I Lost the Rule Book
When she’s here, I make a bed on the floor next to our bed by stacking comforters and pillows. I turn down the blankets and put a stuffed animal on the pillow and my nine-year old granddaughter climbs in and goes right to sleep.… Continue Reading “I Lost the Rule Book”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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