I saw lots of new faces. I guess they were people who did not leave their rooms much. Some of them looked very, very, very, very old. Some looked sick. For the first time, I felt a little afraid. But then I looked at Nancy. I thought she was going to faint.
I grabbed her hand. “Don’t be scared!” I whispered loudly. “They are all glad we came.”
“But that lady over there is asleep in her wheelchair,” Nancy whispered back.
“Well, everyone else is glad we came,” I replied. “They really are. A lot of them are like Grandma B. They do not have any family nearby.”
I saw Grandma B then and waved to her.
She grinned and waved back.
I was just about to take Nancy to her when Ms. Colman gathered our class together. We stood in front of those old, old faces.
“Girls and boys,” said Ms. Colman, “we will put on the program first. Then we will hand out the presents. So please get ready to perform.”
My friends and I took off our jackets. We got our props ready. Some kids fixed up their costumes.
At last Ms. Colman said to our audience, “Our program is about to begin. We have worked very hard on it. I hope you will have fun watching it. I now present the second grade from Stoneybrook Academy.”
Oooh. My heart was beating fast. I had stage fright. I held onto Hannie and Nancy. We watched Natalie and Jannie sing the pumpkin song. They did very well, and everybody clapped for them.
Then the boys put on their space-and-dinosaur play. This time, they were ready with their props.
“Look! There is a diplodocus!” exclaimed Hank Reubens. He pointed to a plastic dinosaur. “And there is a triceratops. We have found dinosaurs on the moon. We are heroes!”
The boys all said, “The end,” and took a bow.
More applause.
Now it was our turn. Ricky went first. I went second. Nancy went third. Hannie went fourth. Do you know what? We did not make one single mistake.
Everyone clapped and Grandma B put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. “Yea, Karen!” she cried.
The program was over. And the people at the manor had a surprise for us. They served punch and cookies. Yummy-yummers! Then my friends and I began to pass out the gifts. Nancy and I were heading toward Grandma B with a nice macaroni necklace when Ms. Colman said, “Karen? Nancy? Would you come here, please?”
The High Holy Days
Uh-oh, I thought. Are we in trouble? I tried to think of something I had done wrong. Had I used my outdoor voice? Had I spilled punch?
Nancy and I turned around and walked to Ms. Colman.
“Girls,” she said seriously, “there are six residents of the manor who could not come to the program. They are not feeling well and they have to stay in their beds. But we want to give them gifts, too. I thought it would be nice if they got them from us, and not from a nurse or from Mrs. Fellows later. They would like to see two young faces. So would you please go with Mrs. Fellows to hand out the gifts? Here are four pencil cups and two necklaces.”
I gulped. I looked at Nancy. She would not want to do this. But you have to pay attention to your teacher. So I said, “Okay,” to Ms. Colman. Nancy could not speak. She just nodded her head.
“Good girls. Thank you,” said Ms. Colman.
Nancy and I followed Mrs. Fellows through the hallways. Nancy held onto my hand so tightly I thought she would break it.
The old people were really nice, though. They loved their gifts. One man looked like he was two hundred years old. He could not talk. But when I said, “I am Karen and this is Nancy, and we have a present for you,” he smiled. He did not have any teeth, but Nancy did not mind. She liked his smile anyway.
When we had given away all the gifts, Nancy was still looking happy. Mrs. Fellows took us back to the all-purpose room.
“Now,” I said to Nancy, “come meet Grandma B.”
Grandma B was sitting on a couch. She was wearing a macaroni necklace.
“Hi!” I exclaimed. “Grandma B, this is my friend Nancy. Nancy Dawes. She does not have any grandmas or grandpas. Except for a pen-pal grandma.”
“Hello, Nancy Dawes. How are you?”
“I’m fine,” said Nancy shyly. “How are you?”
“Just fine. I am very excited. I am getting ready for the High Holy Days.”
“Really?” said Nancy. “Me, too! … Wait a second. I thought Karen said your family lives in Chicago. Are you going to Chicago for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? Are you staying for Succot?”
“No,” said Grandma B. She looked a little sad. “But we observe the holidays at the manor. And Mrs. Fellows will probably drive me to temple.”
Oh, I thought. High Holy Days. Not the holidays. Not Christmas. Nancy celebrates different holidays than I do. She is Jewish. I guessed Grandma B was, too.
“But,” Nancy was saying, “you can’t go to temple alone. You need a family. Why don’t you come to our synagogue with us? And then maybe you could come home to our house. Mommy always makes challah and honey cake and — and everything!”
I could not believe Nancy was so excited talking to an old person. Grandma B seemed excited, too.
“Do you like to dance?” she asked Nancy.
“Oh, yes!” Nancy replied. “I am going to be an actress one day. I have to learn to sing and dance and maybe play the piano.”
“Do you like to listen to music?” asked Grandma B.
“Yes,” said Nancy again. “Mommy and Daddy play very beautiful music on our stereo. They say it is classical.”
I left Grandma B and Nancy talking about music and acting. They looked comfortable and happy, sitting together on the couch.
Nancy’s Grandmothers
Well, you will never guess what. I have just my four regular grandmothers again — Granny, Grandma, Nannie, and Neena. And now Nancy has an adopted grandma. Her grandma is Grandma B.
Grandma B went to the synagogue with the Daweses at Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Succot. I am not sure what happens on those holy days. But they are very important to Nancy and her parents and Grandma B.
Mr. and Mrs. Dawes only minded a little that Nancy had invited Grandma B to join them on the holy days. I mean, they didn’t mind that Grandma B was coming. They thought that was nice. But they minded that Nancy had invited Grandma B without asking them first if she could do that.
I have the same rule at my house. First I have to ask Mommy or Seth if I can invite someone over. Then I do the inviting.
Anyway, the Daweses and Grandma B like each other very much. Grandma B spends a lot of time at Nancy’s house now. I found out that Succot is a special Thanks-giving festival. Also, Grandma B brings her favorite violin music over to Nancy’s house and they all listen to it. Nancy likes the violin music.
Grandma B taught Nancy to waltz.
Here is some more news. One day I was watching TV. I saw a girl doing fancy tricks on a balance beam, and turning cartwheels and flipping hands to feet, hands to feet.
“She is a gymnast,” Mommy told me.
“Can I be a gymnast?” I asked.
“If you take gymnastics,” replied Mommy. “Do you want to take lessons?”
“Yes!” I said.
So Mommy signed me up for lessons at the Y.
Here is the bad thing: The lessons were held on the days I was supposed to go to Stoneybrook Manor.
Here is the good thing: Nancy wanted to adopt Grandma B. So she did! Now Nancy goes to the manor two times a week. She is not afraid of the old people there. Well, she is a little afraid of the ones in wheel-chairs. But that is all.
And she has two grandmas now — a pen-pal grandma and an adopted grandma. They are not the kinds of grandmas most people have, but at least she has two of them. And Grandma B has a family in Stoneybrook. Nancy said she has already invited Grandma B over for Hanukkah and for Passover Seder.
Me? I’ve got my four grandmas back. That’s all I need. I did not really have to set a grandmother record.
Here are
some of the things I am learning in gymnastics: cartwheels, backward somersaults, shoulder rolls, and round-offs.
One day after school I was in the backyard at Mommy’s. I was practicing my gymnastics.
“Watch me, Andrew!” I cried.
I turned a cartwheel.
I landed on my bottom.
“Was that supposed to happen?” asked Andrew.
“No,” I replied. I would have to practice some more. I did not mind. I love gymnastics.
“Karen!” Mommy called from the back door. “Phone for you. It’s Granny.”
Goody, goody, goody! Granny in the state of Nebraska.
I ran inside. I could not wait to speak to my own special grandma.
About the Author
ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.
Copyright © 1990 by Ann M. Martin
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First edition, 1990
e-ISBN 978-1-338-05569-6
Ann M. Martin, Karen's Grandmothers
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