Grandmotherly artifact

My maternal grandmother was an invalid in later life. Yet she bore seven children who all survived, and had my youngest aunt and uncle against the advice of her doctor. After that, a congenital heart condition kept Nanny upstairs in bed at the house on Boncloddy Street.

When I was a baby, my mother took my sister and me from our Alberta farm to visit my grandparents in Newfoundland. doted on us, Our aunts and uncles doted on us, and so did Nanny and Pop Pitcher. I grew so fond of my granddad that on the way home to Alberta, I escaped my mother in Toronto to follow a man I mistook for "Bop."

I also enjoyed sharing the "bapes" that Nanny was often given in recognition of her invalid status. What remains of her fruit basket is the only memento I have of my long-dead maternal grandmother. The wicker sides crumbled away long ago.