grandfather

I spent my childhood summers in Transylvania. My classmates thought it was beyond cool that I’d be off to the home of Dracula, bats, and vampires for six weeks.Transylvania was a magical place for me, but not for any mythical reason — because of my grandfather.He’s 97 years old now,…

My grandfather was born and spent his young adult life under Portugal’s Estado Novo dictatorship, which ended in 1974.He saw firsthand how financial insecurity could be used as a weapon — loans denied, costs inflated, and livelihoods threatened based on arbitrary labels of unreliability, like involvement in union organizing.For him,…

We didn’t really know our neighbor of 11 years until my husband asked to borrow his truck.He not only said yes, but accompanied him on his errand. Afterward, he came over for dinner.We’re still friends to this day, and he’s a grandfather figure to our kids.My husband and I found…