Some people might think it’s strange that I am looking forward to hanging out with my grandma, but I love being with Mimi. It was the rest of the family that sometimes annoyed me.

Dad is always on time for everything, so of course we got to the airport a little early. I watched people lugging bags or rolling suitcases, and I wondered where they’d been or what adventure they were heading off to.

“What’s one place that you’ve never been that you’d like to see?” I asked Dad.

Dad and I did this a lot, asking things like, If you could eat only one thing for twenty-four hours, what food would you choose?

“Hmm,” Dad said. “Well, Europe was wonderful, but if it has to be someplace I’ve never been, I think I’d love to go to Japan.”

I nodded. I always forget Dad had traveled a lot with Mom, before she got sick.

Mom lived in France for a year during college, and when Dad went to visit her, they traveled all over Europe.

“But you know I’m not a big traveler,” said Dad. “I like being home. It’s fun to see other countries, but I miss home when I’m away.”

“Did Mom miss home when she was living in France?” I asked.

“Well, she definitely missed her family and her friends,” said Dad. “And me!” He laughed. “But I think she liked learning how people lived in different cities. To some extent she had to learn how people lived in our town too.”

I thought about that. “You mean like how we pronounce certain words?”

“Well, that, yes,” said Dad. “But also that everyone eats dinner early or that people think it’s rude if you don’t say hello when you see them out and about, that kind of thing. When she first moved here, she could not get used to the fact that people would just walk in the front door without knocking first. For about six months, she screamed when anyone came into the house.”

I laughed. “Well, to be fair, people only walk in if you’ve invited them over or are expecting them. It’s not like we just randomly walk into each other’s houses!”

“Of course not!” said Dad. “But even then. One time when Casey’s mom came over, she startled Mom so much that Mom dropped an entire platter of meatballs and spaghetti she was making for dinner. There was red sauce everywhere… even on the ceiling.”

I cracked up. “Wow, that sounds like a mess!”

“It was,” said Dad. “There was sauce in her hair and dripping from above. And we all laughed at her, and she did not like that one bit!”

I giggled. I was used to seeing Mom covered in paint but not sauce.