no typo, you read that right. september 11th means something rather different for my family. on september 11th, 1944, my paternal grandfather's plane was shot down over Nazi Germany. thankfully, he parachuted out of the plane and survived. if he hadn't, i wouldn't be writing this, as i wouldn't exist. he was captured and held in a German war prison ( Read more... )

i'm fortunate in that i still have all four of my grandparents. for reference, i refer to my dad's parents as grandma and grandpa, and my mom's parents as nana and papa. my grandparents are all pretty old. all somewhere between 80-90, and their age is definitely starting to show. both my grandfathers are doing pretty well, but my grandmothers, not ( Read more... )