grandmother

“Do you think there is a heaven?” my 99-year-old grandma, who was a devout Catholic, asked me one of the last times I saw her alive. It was June of 2019, and my mom and I had driven south to Dyersburg, TN, to visit her in the long-term care facility…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dale Atkins, author of “The Turquoise Butterfly.” It has been edited for length and clarity.I learned everything I know about being a grandparent from watching my own mother with my sons. She loved spending time with my kids, doing anything and…

I live in California. My grandmother lives 5,000 miles away in Scotland, but the distance between us never felt that far. I’m lucky that as I grew up, I got to spend so much time with her. We vacationed in the UK often, and she loved visiting the US, especially…