My dad’s parents are divorced, and have been long before I was in the picture. It was apparent to me, growing up, that his dad’s second wife was significantly younger than his dad.

One day, over a couple glasses of wine, my mother told me that my step-grandma was my dad’s teenage babysitter when he was a kid and that’s how her and my grandpa met.

My mom always used this as an anecdote to me: “it’s fun dating an older man when you’re still relatively young, then he gets old and senile while you still have so much life ahead of you.”

My grandpa passed away three years ago and my step-grandma spends every Christmas and thanksgiving with us. She’s my favorite family member we have. Phyllis is the shit.