Her five grandchildren call her “Bajka,” which in Serbian means fairytale.

My grandmother was born in Belgrade in 1943. As a young woman, she studied art history and later began working on national television as a producer and director of a series that explored Serbian history through music.

During the war in Serbia, after her two sons were recruited, she broke into parliament and gave a speech which led to the formation of the Mother’s Movement for Peace.

Today, at the age of 73, she is still working and recently filmed her five thousandth emission.

This is a photograph of her modeling for Yves Saint Laurent during her stint in Paris.

Although much of this information about my remarkable grandmother can be found on the internet, few people know the warm traits that make her our matriarch. She would wake up first to make us all breakfast; she is the one who takes care of the animals she initially forbid us to bring home; she cannot sit still because she feels that time is limited; every day she cooks for thirteen; she believes her flowers grow so well because “they feel loved;” she wakes up daily with the same bun and earrings she is wearing in this photo; she knows over 50 poems off the top of her head.

When asked to describe her, one of her colleagues said, “Well, you have persistent, more persistent, the most persistent, Nena!” ~shared by @chrononautphotography