Everyone needs an Abba in their lives.

Abba is my grandmother.  She is 70 years old yet acts like someone much younger.  That is, she loves to go line dancing with the gals from the senior group she belongs to, go bowling twice a week, visit the Veterans at the Veterans home every Saturday, go to church on Sunday, and help feed the homeless and poor every Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

In addition, Abba loves to make gifts for us, her 14 grandchildren: we are the apples of her eye, she tells us repeatedly.  

Abba is super talented.  She's a woman who wears many hats.  And I just adore her.

How she got her name is like this: when I was a baby, I could not say "Grandma" (had a cleft palate and speech problems), so the closest I could come up with was "Abba".  The name stuck; my grandmother is known by "Abba".  It's that simple.

In contrast, Abba's husband is only two years later, but he is ... OLD.  He is in very poor health (Granddad is often in and out of the hospital due to breathing problems and also his heart; he's on oxygen and takes a busload of pills), and while Abba is out "gallavanting around" (as Granddad puts it), Mom and myself are there to help Granddad out, in case he should need anything or (God forbid!) get sick.  Daddy would help out if he could, but he works all the time.  (Daddy works for the state and is often on the road.)

Abba and Granddad are Daddy's parents.  They moved in with us when Granddad's health got bad; Daddy wanted them to be close by.  Oh, they're close by alright: they LIVE with us, so we see them just about every day (unless Granddad happens to be in the hospital, that is).

Besides me, there's my five brothers (all younger; I'm 12), and one older sister (19), who is away at college.  We have a very big family.

Abba and Granddad's other 8 grandkids are the kids of Daddy's two brothers (our uncles).  They live in Florida.  We live in Ohio.

Abba treats us grandkids like her own kids.  I'm sure she treated her own kids like she treats us: with respect, discipline, and a whole lot of love.  She's a wonderful grandmother and I feel privileged to be one of her grandkids!