putting the knit in shizknitz

My grandma is on a cross-country USA tour of her life. This has been a lot of firsts at the age of 85: airplane ride, using a passport, seeing Niagara Falls, knowing what a day-long drive is like, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Hollywood and whips. Wait, perhaps that last one doesn’t belong on that list

My baachan (grandma in Japanese) lives in Yokohama by herself, as my father lives here in the states and both my aunt and uncle have already passed away. My jiichan (grandpa) passed away a few years ago. I’ve spent time with my extended family only when I’ve had the opportunity to visit Japan, which doesn’t equate to very much time. Having my baachan here is a real treat, as it will be our first time having a holiday with another member of our family. My baachan is hilarious - she’s 85, uses a cane and walks reaaaaaly slow, but is a real spitfire. Her memory is much better than mine - and she won’t take shit from anyone Yesterday we drove through Rodeo Drive, then spent some time at Hollywood and Highland where she got to see the hand/foot prints of stars like Marilyn Monroe and Betty Davis. It was real crowded with tourists, families, kids, and people in costume. For a nominal tip, you can take a photo with Superman, Shrek, a Hobbit or other characters. My grandma (she’s shrunk so much she must be about 3 feet when she walks) slowly walks through the crowds and makes her way to this sultry Catwoman and insists on taking a photo with her. Catwoman loves this and asks grandma “would you like to hold the whip?” the crowd around us started laughing with us and taking photos as my grandma happily took ahold of the leather whip. My baachan was totally thrilled. I asked her later “why catwoman?” she responded “because she was pretty, with those long skinny legs and she looked good in her leather costume” RARRR!