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| Grandma & I in 2009 |
This past Saturday, my grandma Janet turned 90! It's kind of amazing and hard to wrap your mind around that. I mean, I think of all the things she has experienced in her life from the depression in the 30s to WWII to the Vietnam war era to the technology era and the advent of computers to present day times. She has clearly seen so much in her 90 years. Besides all the things happening in the world, she raised 4 children with my grandpa and has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She also survived the passing of my grandpa over 4 years ago which has left a giant hole in her life (and the life of all of my family members). They truly had the most amazing marriage I have ever witnessed. I never saw them exchange a cross word and they had neat rituals, such as memorizing poetry together while traveling across the country in their motor home.
I was fortunate enough to have lived less than a mile from my grandparents when I was growing up, so it was common for me to walk or bike down to their house for a visit. I think I took the gift of their geographical proximity for granted as I was growing up, but as an adult, it is something I am definitely very thankful for.
I have so many great memories that I made with my grandma, from small things like spending afternoons with her as a kid to bigger things like going to California with her and my grandpa (and my sister, aunt, and cousin) in their motor home the summer after 6th grade. As an adult, I cherish things like emails from her (yes, at age 90 she emails!) to playing scrabble (she always beats me with ease) to playing trivial pursuit to discussing our latest reads as we share a love of reading.
I think my move to Charlotte has made me even more sympathetic to the challenge she has faced in carrying on without my grandpa. While I can not even begin to imagine what it is like to lose a spouse (of 60+ years), I do know the lonely feeling of starting over. We have shared experiences such as eating many meals alone and the difficulty of making friends.
My family will gather next weekend to celebrate her wonderful 90 years of life. I will of course miss this celebration but I will definitely be there in spirit.
Do you have any living grandparents? My grandma Janet is my last living grandparent. I am so thankful for all the memories I've made with her and hope that there are many more to come.
Aww, very sweet! I have one living grandmother and she just turned 90 as well!
ReplyDeleteAw, she's precious! I just have one grandparent left too. I was really lucky to live in the same town as both sets of grandparents until I was 10. All my childhood memories include them. My grandma is 93 1/2 and so amazing. She says when you pass 80 you get to start claiming your age in fractions like a child again :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your Grandma! My Grandpa just turned 91 this past weekend, and I agree, thinking about what they've seen in that time is incredible!
ReplyDeleteLove this! She is such a gorgeous lady =) Happy birthday to her!
ReplyDeleteI have one gram left; she is going to be 89 this year. She's a trooper and a tough cookie all rolled into one and I'm thankful to have her around to share her experiences with me and my family.
Beautiful post, Lisa! I will copy it and send it to her email as I'm sure she would love to read it! We will miss you at the "party" but will take lots of pictures to share!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post, Lisa! I will copy it and send it to her email as I'm sure she would love to read it! We will miss you at the "party" but will take lots of pictures to share!
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to make new friends, but even harder when you're over 30 (which probably counts triply for those who are 90!).
ReplyDeleteThere's a NYTimes article on this that I find interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/fashion/the-challenge-of-making-friends-as-an-adult.html
Very cool! I still have both grandmothers, they are 93 and 87 now. My grandfathers died in 1981 and 1998 (respectively) and neither one ever remarried. The whole thing seems really amazing to me. I hope she has a great party!
ReplyDeleteYour grandmother sounds like an amazing woman! And to think, you have longevity in your genes! =) I don't have any more living grandparents (it's been a decade since my last living grandparent passed). But, over the weekend, we had strawberry shortcake to celebrate what would've been my grandfather's birthday this week (it was his favorite dessert, pretty much my whole family carries on the tradition).
ReplyDeleteYour grandma looks amazing for 90! And the fact that she emails is very impressive. My grandma who is in her early 70s just got a cell phone and texts now! It's pretty cool. :)
ReplyDeleteI have two living grandparents, on my mom's side. They are in their 70s and I live just about 5 minutes away from them so I get to see them often. They are two of my very favorite people!
Happy birthday to your grandma!
Oh, my -- the life and experiences she would have known. Does know. Hopefully will know for birthdays to come!
ReplyDeleteI have no grandparents or even parents or aunts/uncles left. But I sure did spend a lot of time with my grandma when I was little -- she taught me to bake, appreciate the garden, was just wonderful. I wish I had her now!
Happy Birthday, Grandma Janet!
What a wonderful lady and how nice that you were able to spend so much time with her growing up! Heopfully visits will be more frequent soon. I rarely saw my grandparents as a child, but when we did it was a treat. They spoiled us rotten.
ReplyDeleteAw, your grandmother sounds amazing! I actually have 3 living grandparents- my grandmother on one side is 88 and she lost her husband at 66, so, crazy to me. I know she still misses him every day. My other grandparents are both 92 I think- it's amazing really what all 3 of them have lived through history-wise. Happy Birthday to your grandmother!
ReplyDeleteThat is so amazing. I miss my grandma's so much. I have one grandpa living and he has dementia and it's sometimes harder than if he wasn't there. Last time I was thankful to be wearing sunglasses to hide the tears rolling down.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful recap of a classic beauty of a woman. I am so honored know grandma - as she has lived through so much. I totally took for granted the convenience of living so close to our grandparents growing up. Heck, I took for granted living in the same state as my family!
ReplyDeleteLove that picture of you two!
Happy Birthday to your grandma!! What an amazing life she has led. I'm sure she will have a wonderful time celebrating with everyone next weekend and I'm sorry you have to miss it :(
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents on both sides of my family are still alive and my great-grandmother on my mom's side just passed in 2010. I felt so lucky to spend so much time with a GREAT-grandmother! I know not everyone can say that. I am very very close with one set of grandparents but not as close with the other set. As I get older I definitely value every second I get with them more and more.
Well I cried. Happy Birthday Grandma Janet!
ReplyDeleteI had 5 grandparents growing up (3 grandparents and 2 great-grandparents), but sadly I only have one grandma left. Luckily she is awesome and I'm her favorite ;)
I have one grandma left ... she is mid 80s. The crazy thing, her mother/my great grandma just died about 3 years ago!! Good genes!
ReplyDeleteYour grandma absolutely sounds like an amazing women, clearly it runs in your family.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you have all these wonderful memories with your grandma and I really love that she and your grandpap used to memorize poetry together.
Happy belated birthday to your grandma! I don't have any grandparents left, but Brian does. His grandpa is 94 and his grandma is 86....still living on their own too!
ReplyDeleteBoth of my grandmothers are still alive and in their earlier 80s. My dad's father died when my dad was in his 20s. And my other grandfather lived till he was 96. He actually died just over 3 years.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely been a hard for years for my grandmother loosing her husband of almost 60 years and her daughter within 2 years of each other. But she's still in really good shape. And while she doesn't send me e-mails per se, she's is always fwd-ing me random e-mails from her friends.
Awwww... I love that you get along so great with your grandmother! I also love that (a) she beats you at Scrabble and (b) she emails! How handy! I have three grandmothers left, but no grandfathers. I probably don't see / talk to them enough...
ReplyDeleteHappy (late) birthday to your grandma!