Fight Night

The next morning, Swiv tackles a homework assignment that her mother has given her: She is to write about Grandma’s life. Grandma was one of many children and is the last surviving sibling. Her parents died when she was young, so her older brothers sent her to live in Nebraska as a maid. When she returned to Canada, she married Grandpa; Swiv reports that she loved him a great deal. She also claims that Grandma killed her own father. He was sick and incapacitated, so she—in her role as a nurse—decided not to intubate him. Swiv then mentions that Grandpa and Momo (Grandma’s daughter and her Mom’s sister) both died by suicide. Still, Grandma always claims that she has been lucky.

Grandma wants to visit the nursing home where a lot of her old friends are now living. She reconnects with many of them, though Swiv cannot understand the language in which they speak. Grandma becomes so excited that she begins to dance. She falls, losing a tooth and breaking her arm. While the nurse wants to keep her in the home, Grandma convinces Swiv that they must leave, so Swiv attempts to drive them back to Ken’s house.