When I was younger, I always said to my Grandma, “I know you are going to live to be 100!” She turned 90 in November 2006. She has the skin of a 50 year old. She still mows her yard and plants potatoes to eventually fry in Crisco. Everything is fried in Crisco. She is the old fashioned; Depression Era raised and survived type. She always finishes her plate of food, no matter how much she is given. One time, we had a 3-hour lunch at Cracker Barrel because if you have ever been to a Cracker Barrel, you know how much food you get. She will also finish everyone else's plate including that curly parsley that garnishes the plate! “It has a lot of vitamins,” she will say. Yes, she is a character.
She was born in the mid-west in 1916,second of six siblings. Her mother died when she was still a teenager, and she helped raised her younger brothers and sisters on the farm with her father. She eventually married and had three children and worked in an automobile factory. She was our church organist for 30 years and still can play a mean piano or organ. She was widowed in her 50's and after one year of mourning, went to Europe and traveled the United States.
She went to College in her late 60's and became a substitute teacher. She always loved to read and write and is a published poet, a poem she wrote and dedicated to me. She met the love of her life and married again at age 72. They are still married and very happy. She was never a drinker or a smoker, but an avid card game, monopoly and scrabble player. She will pull out words you have never heard of, but they are always in the dictionary!
So I dedicate this to my special Grandma for Mother's Day. She has been a loving and inspirational person in my life and I can't wait to say on her 100th birthday. “I knew it all along!”
I Love you Granny!
