I love my grandma, but my grandma hates that I go to Israel.

I have two grandmothers and they are both still alive. This post is about my Grandma Vanko, my mom's mom. Grandma's name has at times in the past been Baba because that is the Slovak word for "grandmother" and both sides of my family come from what is now the Czech Republic so many of my elders speak Slovak or Czech or both.

My grandma is one of the most sassy, powerful women I have ever met. A number of years ago when I was trying to decide whether or not to end a very long-term relationship I was in, I called her because she made a similar life decision for herself when she was in her 60's and I knew she would be able to tell me what to do. Grandma lives independently in a house she bought with her own money and that she completely fixed up on her own. She does not color her hair and does not like it when I do either (but I stopped in April so we are on better terms about that now, even though I do not like the way it looks).

She calls herself the Bionic Grandma because she has had three knee replacements. When I went to see Grandma recently we frosted brownies and looked at pictures and something she said really made me cry but only because I love her so much. She is very detail-oriented and loves to stay organized and in touch with people. When writing letters to her friends and family, Grandma uses her Smith-Corona Selectric typewriter and puts the finished products in the mail. Grandma does not use the Internet, but does read this blog because her son, my Uncle Andy, prints out the posts and takes them to her house and reads them to her.

I thought of my grandmother this morning when I was writing the post about buying my plane ticket because I know it will upset her. Ever since I started going to Israel three years ago, Grandma has not been happy about it in the least. She prays and prays all the time while I am there so St. Christopher protects me and I think she even uses St. Jude, patron saint of hopeless cases, from time to time because if you have a 33-year-old spinster granddaughter who was brought up in a good Catholic home and is now running around the Middle East going to classes at the university and having tea with the Bedouins in their tents, well what more of a hopeless case is there than that.

I hope that she and my uncle both laugh out loud at that last line when he reads it to her :)

Thank you, Grandma, for all of your help protecting me every time I've traveled. I know you do not like it but I also know you are proud of me for doing it, that you are one of the strong women who showed me I could do it by going on your own adventures to Southern California all those winters and let's not forget your cruise to Alaska! It is true, I am going to live in Israel for three months and I know you are not happy but I know you will pray for me and I promise you I will do everything I can to stay safe.