My grandmother turned 90 yrs old yesterday. We celebrated on a small scale and little does she know that today holds a surprise party. Well I take that back. My grandmother is sharp minded and we think she suspects there's a party in the works.She enjoyed the small scale party and here she is holding her great-great granddaughter, MC.
My grandmother is the oldest of 4 children. I am fascinated with the story of her life. She was born to a young farming couple in the Appalachian mountains on a snowy blizzard day. Her mother almost died during the birth and was transported 10 miles by horse and sled to the nearest dr in town. Due to my great grandmother's grave condition the dr had no time to care for my grandmother and advised the midwife to wrap the baby and lay her beside the dog in a bed to keep her warm. Both of them survived and my great-grandmother lived to be 91 yrs old.
At the age of 7 yrs. my grandmother suffered the loss of her youngest 2 yr old sister to illness and 6 months later lost her father to TB.
She quit high school in her junior year and landed a job as a bank teller. Her math skills are sharp and believe me, she can beat anyone at a game of Dominoes 15's.
She met my grandfather and married at the age 18. One year later my mother was born. Six years later she again suffered loss when her second child (a boy) died at the age of 3 months.
My grandfather was called to service during WW2 and she volunteered her services on the homefront while working and raising her daughter.
She is a survivor of the Great Depression. At one point they closed their house and she and my mother moved in with her mother and my grandfather moved in with his parents. When asked why they didn't move in together to one house or the other her words are, " neither family could afford or house all of 3 of us and that's just the way things were, you did what you had to do." She remains politically active and has given quite a few warnings concerning our present government. I've learned to listen to the wise words of the elderly. They're no fools.
I spent weekends with my grandparents and thought it was wonderful when I could get "gussied-up" and go into town with them. Back then there were many specialty (quality) clothing stores in our downtown area and one had a tea room. She took me to lunch there many times and you can only imagine a wide eyed 7 yr old girl marveling over the dainty china tea cups, the little sandwiches and special desserts.
My grandmother has 1 daughter, 4 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great granddaughter. She has spunk and if she thinks she's being bossed around she'll inform the self-designated bossy one to "Sit down. Who do you think I am? I'm certainly not an old woman." She still lives in her home with her little dog, Buffy and she remains active in her church and volunteers at our local fire department.
She has called me every year on my birthday to sing Happy Birthday. This year I surprised her by calling and singing Happy Birthday in my best singing voice (which is never good). We had a good laugh.
Happy Birthday Mom-mom!
