Never Empty Nest: Grandmother measures satisfaction

BOSTON, Mass. —

Sonia Booker, 73, glows with pride when she displays a photo of her granddaughter.

“I’m just happy I had her as long as I did,” said the grandmother. “She was special.”

Granddaughter Chantée Booker died at age 19. Her grandmother said she was sickly from birth because her mother was addicted to drugs.

During her short lifespan, Booker said, Chantée impressed everybody who came in contact with her. Especially her classmates and teachers at Jeremiah E. Burkes High School, where she was a cheerleader, accomplished dancer and honor student.

All of which contributed to her listing in Who’s Who in American High Schools and an invitation to participate in the Presidential Classroom at Spellman College.

Booker said she adopted Chantée, her son’s child, when both biological parents were sent to prison. The mother died when Chantée was 3 years old.

“She was born addicted to drugs because her mother was,” said Booker, who raised her granddaughter at GrandFamilies House in Boston, a special housing program for grandparents raising grandchildren.

“Chantée was a good girl,” said Stephanie Chacker, director of GrandFamilies House. “All the kids loved her. I have never seen a funeral so filled with emotion. All the kids came up and spoke. Mrs. Booker just gave her every opportunity.”

Doctors told Booker there was always the possibility of death and that became a concern whenever Chantée took a turn for the worse – such as right before her 16th birthday.

“I was planning her Sweet 16 party and the doctors were just looking at me like ‘this lady’s crazy,”’ said Booker. “But she pulled through” and talked about college as her next academic step.

Chantée’s desire for higher learning was inspired by her grandmother, who returned to school at age 55 to earn her high school diploma. She then got an associate degree at a local community college, a bachelor’s degree in education at Emmanuel College in Boston and went on to a successful career as a school teacher – all the while caring for Chantée and several of her other 32 grandchildren.

Raising grandchildren, Booker said, has many joys and satisfactions.

And, she added, Chantée is a classic example.

Kelly Kazek is a CNHI News Service Elite Reporting Project Fellowship recipient. She writes for The News Courier in Athens, Ala.