After my daughter-in-law Ivy passed away five years ago, single women in the neighborhood and on the compound came to me at different times and offered to live with me, do our housekeeping, and take care of my granddaughters. It was uncanny because I felt that they were all auditioning for a role. They presumed that I could not fulfill all three obligations by myself. They came to me on separate occasions, many of them bringing food and gifts. I, of course, turned down their offers. Had I accepted any one of them I would have been most unhappy.

As it is, I believe that I take care of my granddaughters better than other people take care of their own children.