Playing Poker with Nana

This book is a collection of memories and glimpses of an extraordinarily down-to-earth and insightful woman, my Nana. It looks back and forward , piecing together words, images and experiences of growing up and spending Summer holidays with her in New York, where she sourced, and seeded hope, vitality and sage advice in me. Now in my sixties, I am passing on that wisdom. Everyone loves a grandparent, or wishes they had one to remember and be loved by , perhaps this collection of short stories, flashes of insight, moments that stayed and grew into knowledge and understanding, will give them a Nana to cherish, or add to the memories of their own wise ones, who have gone before them in faith. These memories are funny, truthful, probing, realistic; laced with grief, awe, and grace. She lived for eighty-six years; an immigrant, widowed young. I knew her and yet barely knew her as only a child knows, remembers, pieces together and then realises there are huge pieces missing. The book is short, but layered , a book to be savored, shared, and passed around.