Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century

Book excerpt: “Radiant.” —O, The Oprah Magazine From cherished memories of childhood weekends with Nana to the reality of the year she spent “ladysitting,” Lorene Cary journeys through stories of their time together and five generations of their African American family. Weaving a narrative of her complicated relationship with Nana—a fiercely independent and often stubborn woman whose family fled the Jim Crow South and who managed her own business until 100—Cary captures the ruptures, love, and forgiveness that can occur in family as she bears witness to her grandmother’s vibrant life.