In my swollen, cranky, creaky state, my daily complaint is that I feel like I’m ninety years old. Now, my grandpa? He actually is ninety one. Ninety one with a plethora of health issues I would list, but I leave the 100 page medical papers to my husband. Also, his memory isn’t the best. Understandable, considering that is a lot of living to keep track of. Hey, I’m lucky if I can keep my children apart and I’m twenty… something (this is how 29 year-old women in denial describe their age) The thing about my grandpa, however, is he’s not an epic Crank. There are bad days. He’s also fortunate to have the company of my grandma as well as some wonderful caregivers and my saintly (er… mostly) uncle to assist him in his final years. But though he may not remember all his grandkids, even though he take more meds than an entire psych ward, every time I’ve visited him since college, the man has made me laugh.

For example, when we discussed him turning ninety, I asked if he wanted me to have a girl jump out of a cake.
"I don’t like cake. I like pie."
"OK," I conceeded. "We won’t do it then."
His eyes widened. "Wait. A girl and a pie. That would be worth the mess."

My uncle just sent me this Halloween pic of my grandpa and his caretaker. It made my day and made me think.

My writing style is something I’ve obviously struggled with because I’ve mentioned it before on my blog. Sometimes, I do this stupid thing where I apologize or downplay my book because of the humor. It’s not full of dark themes or epic truths. There is no Newbery in PRINCESS FOR HIRE’S future.  It’s light and fast and fun. And you know what? There’s value in funny.  It can cure many things other more acclaimed literature may not. Grandpa’s feigned shock expression reminded me of that. Laugh at life and all that.
Man, I hope the expression is feigned. Otherwise, this whole blog post is kind of a dud, huh? 🙂