Just woke up from a dream where we (mom, dad, someone who kept switching between my aunt Ginny & my sister, & I) drove up to visit my great grandmother because she needed help.

When we arrived, we found out that yes, she did need help getting her meals together and organizing her medications and fixing a few things around the house…. But meals on wheels & some other hired help was already doing that, & had been for a while. By the looks on their faces, they were pretty frazzled dealing with her, too.

But she’d really wanted us to come up and take care of Irving, her pet turtle, so she could go to the doctor. She was afraid he’d pee on the rugs while she wasn’t home.

So I explained that some newspaper on the floor of the kitchen, a few baby gates, and some lettuce, would keep
Irving happily occupied so she could leave the house.

The adults (suddenly I wasn’t one, I was only 6) then talked to her about her health, etc. while I used a hot paint gun (picture a soldering gun with a q-tip at the end that you dipped into paint) (yes my brain made it up) to write “ANNE + NNANA” on things. The extra N was a mistake but I’d decided if my grandmother was Nana, then my great-grandmother being Nnana made perfect sense.

Before I could graffiti on more than a box of cereal & an already graffiti’d book, it was time to go. Dad confided in me that mom had had enough. Nnana didn’t want to eat the healthy meals provided by the meals on wheels folks. She wanted an egg mcmuffin and gingerbread for breakfast every day. So we were going home. My sister and I got in the bed of the truck Mom & dad were in the front.

But the old Toyota pickup truck, which was navy blue at some point but was more rust than truck now, was broken in half at some point in the past, so the truck cab & bed were tied together with clothesline. While we were merging onto 422, the knots gave way. I was the only one brave enough to grab the rope, pull the two pieces back together, and retie the knot so the truck was one piece again.

Having saved the day again, I woke up.

My great grandmother on my dad’s side did live in a big old house on her own. She died when I was pretty young & the only thing I really remember is that we weren’t allowed to touch most of the stuff in the house. I doubt she had any pets. My mom is by far the most patient person I know when it comes to stubborn people, so the idea that she is the one who lost her patience is hilarious to me.

We never owned a Toyota pickup because they were always too small. My dad never would have let one go to that level of disrepair. I did ride in the bed of the truck we did own, but never on the highway, and I’m not sure my sister has ever ridden in the bed of a pickup.

And I had gingerbread for dessert last night.

And maybe I’ll have some for breakfast, too.