What are “Nannyisms” and how do they factor into the story?

A Nannyism is a particular piece of wisdom Johnson remembers Nanny saying to them, and something they have incorporated as a life lesson to this day. Johnson structures the memoir around these Nannyisms - starting each chapter with a quote of Nanny’s, explaining a particular memory or event and then creating a theme for the chapter around that Nannyism and event. The Nannyisms create moral lessons for each chapter on how to structure one's life, survive and thrive, create healthy boundaries, and to be a good and moral person. They include everything from always putting on clean underwear, to putting one’s life in God’s hands, to making sure one always has multiple ways of making money, to not just speaking, but doing what one says they will do. Johnson uses these Nannyisms to...