Happy Birthday Grandma...

It is my grandmother's 93rd. birthday today...amazing isn't it? We will be celebrating later by eating cake and opening presents...I know, what does one get someone who has seen almost everything...and probably has had almost everything as well? I'm getting her a little gnome and a new top...

My grandmother has always been a huge part of my life...after all, I've known her all my life (hahaha) Sometimes we haven't had the easiest relationship, yet she's always been there...with her support and stories.

She is an amazingly strong female role model...living so many stories during the various stages of her life...a child growing up in rural Kentucky, getting married and moving to California during the depression...living through that as a mother and wife...then later, after her divorce, as an extremely successful real estate agent, grandmother, and great grandmother. She shares the stories of her life so freely, and has been through some amazing adventures. Not to mention that she was 5'9" with black hair and blue eyes...a beauty, and still is.

She's also been an incredible creative force in my life, as she does amazing things with her hands...cooking, fashion design and crochet included...and I consider myself so lucky to have grown up watching both her and my mother do so many things. She believes in fairies and gnomes, and always encouraged my imagination as a child in these magical realms as well...We've spent some wonderful times together...and, one of my favorite memories is when I used to go to her house to spend the night...we would head out into the back yard and have a bar-b-q...Now, you have to understand that she lived in this HUGE ritzy house (and had a gardener) in Southern California...and we would sit by her back fence, gather up all the eucalyptus (pronounced u-cala-pew-tus by these Kentuckians) leaves...set them on fire, and then roast hot dogs on wire coat hangers. This was so wonderful, because of the smell of the leaves burning...plus, the taste of the dogs was enhanced by the leaves as well! (her neighbors used to peek over the fence and roll their eyes at us...that would make us both giggle! Grandparents always do the most magical things don't they?) That was back when she was trying to get me to gain weight...and feed me tons of food, and then wring her hands over the fact that I'd weighed 62 for 3 years (not such a huge problem right now)

Happy Birthday Grandma...Thank you for all these years, the laughter and the tears...the stories and the memories...
I love you so much!