First and foremost, a “thank you” to everyone that reached out, either by email, commenting on Facebook, text, phone call or in person, and offered their congratulations on my receipt of a “Literacy Hero” award at the Great Valley Bookfest during October.

It was truly an honor and I was one of two recipients this year, the other being Manuel Camacho. We were both recognized on stage as part of the Bookfest event, hosted each year in Manteca. As I listened to the person who nominated Mr. Camacho, I was amazed at his many accomplishments and thought how deserving he was, having been an educator since 1993. When it was my turn, Sally Hale of Escalon, who nominated me, listed some things that I have done since arriving here in California – also in 1993 – and then offered a few personal stories of our work together through the years. I can honestly say that I got a little emotional as Sally was speaking because it made me realize how much I enjoy what I do and how grateful I am to still be doing it; she and I also share a love of working with kids and I can’t thank her enough for the nomination.

Now, on to the actual topic for this column – I kind of figured it was time for another granddaughter update.

We are closing in on Lorelei’s fourth birthday, just a couple of months away, in January. She recently got to accompany my daughter and son-in-law to Tahoe as they celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary.

She has a unique way of phrasing her questions; she was excited to be going on the weekend trip and asked: “Mommy, have I never been to Tahoe?”

Most of her questions follow that pattern, like when she was showing me a picture that she colored: “Mimi, have you never seen this picture before?”

Since I live with them, we do spend a lot of time together and she is always asking for some music on my phone, mostly requesting either songs from ‘Frozen’ or the ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ – the latter of which I had to learn about quite quickly because she was a little frustrated with me that I didn’t know who ‘Rumi’ was. I still don’t quite understand it all but at least now I can pull up their songs easily on my phone.

Her favorite TV shows of the moment are Spidey and his Amazing Friends (yes, there’s a catchy theme song for that one too, which now runs through my head all the time) and she continues to enjoy Paw Patrol. Also, she and I had a recent date night at the movie theater – probably the first time I have been to the theater in over two years – and I got to settle in to enjoy Gabby’s Dollhouse. It was interactive in spots, so that made it fun for her, and it held her attention all the way through. “Mimi, have you never seen this movie before?” she asked as we sat down in those very comfy theater seats. We had our snacks, she had her blanket and her stuffed animal and we just had a great time together.

Never did I think I would trade in my evenings watching “Law & Order” and “Chopped” to learn about rival demon boy and girl bands and sing their songs while driving in the car but, when you’re a Mimi, you just learn to go with it.

Marg Jackson is editor of The Oakdale Leader, The Escalon Times and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 209-847-3021.