A Very Happy Birthday
I have been rather negligent in my posting as of late. Blame it on this persistent two-week cold. Blame it on my incredible disappointment with the How I Met Your Mother finale. Blame it on my busy schedule. Any of those would do.
But today I have something happy to post about. In all reality, this should have been posted yesterday, but here we are. Back in January, I posted about my Grandma Fink's birthday. Unlike some people I know, I was blessed to grow up within ten miles of both sets of my grandparents. They were all present in my life in various ways; I don't think I would be the same person without them.
Yesterday, my Grandma Rowe turned 85. She was born in 1929, so she literally grew up during the Great Depression. She lived through a World War, saw the world around her change from party lines to cell phones, dime movies to 3D televisions. She raised six children and is the grandmother of twelve grandchildren and the great-grandmother of nine (to date). And even at 85, she is as feisty and sassy as anyone I know--I can only imagine her as a young woman! No doubt she was a spitfire.
I have never known my grandmother not to be reading. I can remember summer days my brother, sister, and I spent at her house, and both she and my grandfather would sit on the back porch and read in the afternoon. Talk about good role models, especially for budding teachers like Audra and me. I cherish all the times my sister and I would help her in the kitchen on those hot days making macaroni-and-cheese from scratch and other scrumptious homecooked meals.
I love talking with my grandma--her vernacular is incredible! She enjoys a good glass of wine as much as the next woman, and I don't think anyone else is quite as dedicated to traditions as she. I mean, she still drives down to the Ozarks every summer. She loves the sun and the water, and I can remember helping her in Grandpa's garden--she was outdoors whenever she could be.
I still remember the 9th birthday party I had at her house--it was a joint birthday for my cousin Megan and me. Grandma's sister, Aunt Janie, was there from Florida with her dogs, Cricket and MaiTai. She made me an angel food cake and gave me a Tweety Bird watch--and the whole thing happened on a school night! It was wonderful.
She came to my musicals and our music concerts and even my brother's basketball and baseball games. She never misses the Illini when they are playing, and she keeps up with them when they aren't televised. A couple of years ago, a friend gave me two tickets to Gentleman Prefer Blondes at the U of I Assembly Hall, and I immediately remember knowing that Grandma would definitely go with me. She drove, and we went out for ice cream afterward. It was lovely, and I'll never forget how we laughed when she turned right-on-red when it was clearly marked "No Right on Red" (neither of us saw the sign until it was too late).
There is going to be a party at her house in just a couple of hours--I can only imagine it is going to be a doozy! My mother is one of five girls, so it makes sense that our matriarch would make herself the hub of our family wagon wheel.
Happy Birthday, Grandma! Tonight, I'll raise my glass to you and many more birthdays to come! I love you to pieces!
Stay gold!
But today I have something happy to post about. In all reality, this should have been posted yesterday, but here we are. Back in January, I posted about my Grandma Fink's birthday. Unlike some people I know, I was blessed to grow up within ten miles of both sets of my grandparents. They were all present in my life in various ways; I don't think I would be the same person without them.
Yesterday, my Grandma Rowe turned 85. She was born in 1929, so she literally grew up during the Great Depression. She lived through a World War, saw the world around her change from party lines to cell phones, dime movies to 3D televisions. She raised six children and is the grandmother of twelve grandchildren and the great-grandmother of nine (to date). And even at 85, she is as feisty and sassy as anyone I know--I can only imagine her as a young woman! No doubt she was a spitfire.
I have never known my grandmother not to be reading. I can remember summer days my brother, sister, and I spent at her house, and both she and my grandfather would sit on the back porch and read in the afternoon. Talk about good role models, especially for budding teachers like Audra and me. I cherish all the times my sister and I would help her in the kitchen on those hot days making macaroni-and-cheese from scratch and other scrumptious homecooked meals.
I love talking with my grandma--her vernacular is incredible! She enjoys a good glass of wine as much as the next woman, and I don't think anyone else is quite as dedicated to traditions as she. I mean, she still drives down to the Ozarks every summer. She loves the sun and the water, and I can remember helping her in Grandpa's garden--she was outdoors whenever she could be.
I still remember the 9th birthday party I had at her house--it was a joint birthday for my cousin Megan and me. Grandma's sister, Aunt Janie, was there from Florida with her dogs, Cricket and MaiTai. She made me an angel food cake and gave me a Tweety Bird watch--and the whole thing happened on a school night! It was wonderful.
She came to my musicals and our music concerts and even my brother's basketball and baseball games. She never misses the Illini when they are playing, and she keeps up with them when they aren't televised. A couple of years ago, a friend gave me two tickets to Gentleman Prefer Blondes at the U of I Assembly Hall, and I immediately remember knowing that Grandma would definitely go with me. She drove, and we went out for ice cream afterward. It was lovely, and I'll never forget how we laughed when she turned right-on-red when it was clearly marked "No Right on Red" (neither of us saw the sign until it was too late).
There is going to be a party at her house in just a couple of hours--I can only imagine it is going to be a doozy! My mother is one of five girls, so it makes sense that our matriarch would make herself the hub of our family wagon wheel.
Happy Birthday, Grandma! Tonight, I'll raise my glass to you and many more birthdays to come! I love you to pieces!
Stay gold!
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