My Nana

Today would have been my grandmother's birthday. And because I'm a nice daughter I called my dad to remind him and consequently depress him at the same time. She was a difficult woman to love but she was a hoot too. She died of Cardio Obstructive Pulminary Disease and while she was battling that had a second bout of breast cancer (her first was back in the 60s so she was a real survivor). So they elected to do a second mastectomy but due to the COPD, the doctors couldn't give her a general anethesia. So my grandmother was awake while the doctors removed her breast. She was not the kind of person you want awake during surgery. She kept asking the doctor what he was doing and I think she even gave him a hard time about the evenness of his stitches. Man I loved that woman. There's one Christmas that my parents tell me about all the time (I hadn't been born yet). She and her sister, Agnes, got drunk on Manhattans, put on Hawaiian music and danced around the house. I'm sorry I missed that.