The Grandma Syndrome
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Chapter 5
Ann’s alarm broke her slumber far too early. It had been quite some time since she’d hit the snooze button, but this morning she couldn’t help herself. She was unaccustomed to her routine being affected by anyone or anything and last night’s pre-bedtime dialogue kept her up later than usual. Consequently, she just had to take that “five more minutes” so generously offered by the snooze button. Then ten. Then fifteen.
It was 5:05 a.m. before her feet finally hit the floor. She groggily began slashing minutes in her mind. Fifteen minutes on the elliptical, quick shower, hair up. Again. Oh I can’t wait for my life to get back to normal. Valerie was out. Not even the elliptical was able to rouse her from her bed this morning. Ann tapped her on the shoulder at about 5:20 and told her she had forty minutes to get ready. Both of them were off kilter and out of sorts as they danced around each other, trying to rush. Valerie kept dropping things. Her air mattress was taking forever to deflate, so she abandoned the bed project and opted for kitchen duty. She dribbled jam and butter on the counter and had to clean that up just when she dropped the butter knife on the floor and caused another time-consuming mess. They seemed to make little progress as the clock kept ticking, but somehow managed to make it to the garage by 6:15. Ann cut the token car-warming ritual in half and they pulled out at 6:17. Still not enough time to fight traffic and get to school by seven. As a result of all this, Ann’s temper was far shorter than it was yesterday. All sorts of name-calling and degrading comments flew from her lips as she tried to get on the freeway. Valerie had a short wick herself, so she also let a few words fly. “Auntie,” she sharply chided, “what is desirable in a man is his kindness!” “Listen up you pint-sized pocket prophet,” Ann spat. “I do not want or need your preaching. I’m doing all this as a favor to your mother. If you so much as give me two more words of your God stuff, I will ship you off to my secretary’s house all the way to next Tuesday and that will be that. Have I made myself clear or do I need to put in it writing for you?” “No, you don’t have to write it,” Valerie mumbled. In this brief moment, her heart shut down completely. She knew she wouldn’t be able to talk to her aunt about anything, let alone about the kids at school. She couldn’t have been more disappointed. She couldn’t have felt more alone. She decided right then that she would no longer pray for her aunt to become a nice person. She knew this was impossible. So instead, she released her aunt completely into God’s hands. She quietly told Him, from inside her head, that He could have her aunt and do with her whatever He saw fit to do. She was out of words. When they finally got to school, it was ten after seven. Ann asked if she should come in to talk to the band teacher and Valerie told her no, she could talk to Mrs. Campion after practice. Valerie grabbed her things from the trunk and sprinted toward the double school doors while Ann pulled out of the parking lot with a major handicap. Not only was she running late, but that layer of stress had become generously overlaid with agitation the moment she spoke those vile words to Valerie. She had no idea how she was going to rectify this situation. Her sister would kill her if she caught wind of this. She was sitting on a powder keg of emotional explosives and she didn’t even know it. By the time she got downtown, she’d worked her mind into a raging mess. How was she going to fix this? Should she tell Sara before Valerie got a chance to talk to her? Should she ask Cassie for help? Surely she’d know what to do. A perfect storm brewed as Ann’s emotional stress collided with her gross intolerance of driving in downtown Chicago. As she approached the stop light that put her just one block away from the saving grace of the parking garage, she didn’t see the small figure on her right. An elderly woman, cloaked in black, began entering the crosswalk just as the light turned green. Ann spotted her just as she began moving the car forward. She barely missed hitting the woman as she slammed on her brakes. Laying on the horn and letting off inaudible expletives served only to stop the woman in her tracks. With a dazed expression, she looked straight into the car and into Ann’s eyes. Upon making eye contact, the dazed expression was replaced by an all-knowing, piercing gaze. Ann felt as though the woman was seeing straight into her soul. At the same time, everyone behind Ann was honking now, and yelling out their windows. Pushed to the brink, Ann rolled her window down and yelled, “Come on old woman—get out of the crosswalk already—the light’s about to turn red again. Do you need to get your walking license renewed? Do we need to open a geriatric lane just for you? Can you even comprehend what I’m saying to you?” Then the strangest thing happened.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Ann Finlayson’s self-centered world is crashed when she grudgingly agrees to do her sister a favor: watch Valerie, her eleven-year-old niece, while her sister goes out of town for a job interview.
Because Ann knows nothing about relating to children, she’s infernally frustrated by the challenge of entertaining and caring for her niece.
Disaster strikes one frenzied morning as Ann attempts to navigate through rush hour traffic in downtown Chicago. Due to an ugly skirmish with Valerie on the way to school, her stress strings are already strained to the max. In this volatile state, she blows up on a mysterious old woman who holds her up in a crosswalk.
And the course of her life is changed forever.
Journey with Ann as an unlikely cast of players unwittingly join forces to support her in her new life. Bradley Newman, a kind-hearted coworker; Charlotte, a benevolent shop owner; Lisa, a parent struggling with her child’s health issues; and Ann’s sister, Sara, all play vital roles in introducing Ann to a side of life she’s never experienced before.
“Pleasantly unexpected is how I would describe my journey through The Grandma Syndrome. I was invested early on, and my expectations were wildly exceeded.”
—Abbie H.W.
“Filled with humor, tenderness and romantic mystery, this book will keep you engaged all the way to the end.”
—Tina V.
“A captivating story of redemption and the healing power of love. Definitely a book worth reading.”
—Carolyn W.
About the Author
Judy Greene was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She obtained her BA in English Literature from the University of Washington. She is an avid songwriter and passionate musician with a strong background in musical and theatrical performance. Two of her plays, It’s Just So and The Velveteen Rabbit, have been performed by a local children’s theatre. She and her daughter presently reside in Puyallup, Washington.