Yesterday, as I was scrolling through Facebook checking on my friends’ latest news, I noticed a post from a dear former student of mine. She wrote a very touching message about losing her 94-year-old grandmother. I read it, and her words resonated with me. So often as a writer, I’m asked what influences my stories and where the ideas come from. I suppose anyone who writes novels or nonfiction answers this the same way—the stories typically come from people we know or stories we have heard or read about in the news. There are people and personal acquaintances that influence our storytelling. And then there are grandmothers. If you’ve read…