Facade

Ch2 Nonna

The Boss had given me everyone's favorite grandma i.e. his sister. I'm not even sure if I know her real name because ever since I was born she was always just Nonna to me. Yeah, maybe she's actually Valentina's grandma but she's basically mine too. Speak of the lady, there she is! All five foot and two inches of her and her fluffy white hair. Picture Sophia Petrillo from the Golden Girls but a bit younger, more mobile and frankly more hipster since the last I saw her, and you get Nonna.

"Mia nipote preferita!" She cried out as she hugged me wholeheartedly.

"Nonna, you tell all us girls we're your favorite granddaughter," I tell her as I have ever since I was little.

"That's because each of you is my favorite," she has always had the same answer and mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"You look nice today Nonna," in her cute white pedal pushers, sandals and flowing hot pink blouse. Not to mention those huge hipster-esque glasses!

"Psh, I always look nice! And look at you! Already in shorts and that nice breezy top, are you happy to be out of the cold?"

"Yep! It was twenty seven when I left this morning." We both shared a shiver of pity for our family left in the northeast.

"Well, it's beautiful here! Get your dogs in the car, they can sit in the third row, you and I will sit in the second." The dogs happily piled into the very back row and immediately stuck their heads out the windows.

"I can't wait to show you where you're staying." I'll admit, I'm a bit of a snob. In New York I lived on Lenox Hill with a three sixty view from the park to an overlook of the city. I had wrap around balconies and more square footage then twenty average NYC apartments added together. We're talking an eight figure penthouse that I wasn't willing to sell despite the fact that I might not sleep in it for the next year or so. I know Nonna has great taste so I'm not too worried but still worried just enough.

"You'll love it," Valentina assured me, "you know our Nonna, she gets the best of everything. Just think, you'll have a giant kitchen, each of your damned mutts can have their own room, you'll have windows EVERYWHERE and it'll be so nice, I promise."

"They might each have their own room but I can guarantee you they'll still sleep in my bed," we shared a laugh.

"I feel bad for leaving her here..." she was all I had been thinking about since I made my request to the Boss.

"You know mom and I will take care of her, siamo famiglia."

"You're right, we are family. You're the only one I would ever trust with her, especially now."

"Moxi Girl, you're just going to love your new condo, I promise." Nonna kept talking about all of the modern beauties she had gotten for me but I could only see her face right now, as she had been the day I left. Eyes that didn't recognize me, a face drawn with pain, and a broken soul.

"Roxanne, it wasn't, and isn't, your fault." I hadn't noticed that Nonna had stopped speaking until now.

"Of course it is, I should be there with her but I'm running away." Don't you dare cry.

"Roxanne, Life is a bitch, a cold hearted, user of a bitch. If we let her, Life will take us down her rabbit hole and we'll be tortured by the inevitability of change, powerlessness, hopelessness, and death. It is up to us to be strong and push on. When change happens make it for the best. If you are powerless, enjoy the ride. If you are hopeless then find something to be hopeful for. And if someone you love moves on then don't morn their death, celebrate their life. Death is not a creature to be met lying down. No, we stand up and shake Death's hand because we are brave. That said, it is okay to cry," she ended gently. I shook my head.