Chapter 23
Grossmammi Hochstetler loves to tell stories, not of high adventure, but of small, happy endings involving ordinary people. This person survived when a plague of grasshoppers tried to eat their field. That person saved their barn from a fire thanks to the help of neighbors. This other person persevered through hard work and ingenuity. Most of all, she speaks of faith in God, in the community, and reliance upon each other. Levi may be the family patriarch, but Grossmammi is their heart.
A heart that is growing weaker from hypertension and an ailment I suspect might be diabetes.
I press my fingers against her wrist and stare at my watch as I count the seconds.
"That's one-fifty over ninety-five," I tell her. "That's ten points lower than last week."
"Does this mean you'll tel
