Grandma Turns 90 Years Old

My paternal grandmother is 90 years old today - "Happy Birthday, Grandma."

My paternal grandmother is 90 years old today – “Happy Birthday, Grandma.” Becoming 90 is something special indeed, and my grandmother is very special. Born in 1920, her father was instrumental in the construction of the Panama Canal Zone and my cousin recently sent me a copy of the ship’s manifest for her family’s return to the United States on December 26, 1911, along with pictures of my grandmother’s grandparents. The manifest documents my great-grandparents, with five children already in tow, nine years before my grandmother would be born.

I am also a grandmother now, my grandson, Jason will be five this summer. He knows my grandmother; his great-great-grandmother very well, and that is a treasured blessing for our family. Five generations of a single dysfunctional clan is quite exciting, even to most strangers!

These photos are of my grand mother’s grandparents – my great-great grandparents… that would make this a picture of Jason’s great-great-great-great grand parents! How amazing is that?

Born at the beginning of the roaring 20’s, Grandma shares the year of her birth with Pope John Paul II, Lana Turner, Charles Bronson and Walter Matthau. She was born before traffic signals, the television tube and self-winding watches.

Society has changed since then, even the language, much of the slang, is different today. Her earliest memories are of the Great Depression, nothing she discusses very often. Grandpa would have courted her to the sounds of The Dorsey Brothers, Cole Porter and Bing Crosby. Maybe an early date included a trip to the Cinema to see Shirley Temple in On The Good Ship Lollipop. Yes, life was indeed different then.

This is the same grandma who often sends me tid bits full of wisdom via email that I share that with you here on SearchAmelia.com, “Wisdom from Grandma”. You read that right, my 90 year old grandmother has a computer. She is still amazingly healthy and my son taught her the game of Petanque this weekend at her birthday celebration. (Yes, it was a surprise – and we all had mixed emotions about how smart it was to surprise someone who is 90 years old.) Friends and family came by planes, trains and automobiles (seriously) to gather for her birthday party, and the weather was most cooperative for this midday celebration.

She is a woman of faith, the truest person of faith I have ever met. She not only knows the lessons taught in the scriptures but she lives her life according to God’s will.

A true Matriarch of the family, in the early 70s, my grandparents first hosted a family reunion with her siblings and their descendants that continues to this day. Each year a host family will volunteer to organize the reunion and this has taken our entire clan to a variety of locations. Reunions have been held in Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Tennessee and many have been held in Florida. A few have even been held right here on Amelia Island.

I am overwhelmed with love and admiration for this woman. The joy and the excitement of celebrating her 90th birthday, well, I wanted to share it with you all!

“Happy Birthday Grandma, I love you!!!”