Happy Birthday Grandma!

So today my grandma turned 80 years old. She sure has seen a lot in her lifetime. Can you believe that she didn't have a wii as a kid, or even a nintendo? Julian can't. He doesn't even know what black and white TV is, but grandma sure does! I caught her watching I Love Lucy the other day and Julian wanted to know if her TV was broken.

My grandma has given me so much in my life, there is no way I could ever repay her. Today, in honor of her birthday, I baked her a cake and took it to her house this evening. The kids, my mom, my aunt and I sat around eating this delicious, pack on ten pounds in the blink of an eye cake and enjoyed the outdoors. A nice cool evening, the kids running around playing, happy and enjoying life.

Sitting there on the patio I remembered that in the last year that there were 2 occasions I wasn't sure that my grandma would make it. I wasn't sure she would make it to see her birthday. But she is tough, she pulled through, and here she is. We have a surpise party planned for her this coming Saturday. Its been in the works for months. In March while she lay in ICU on a ventilator I stood there, looking at her, wondering if it was her time. If the party we were planning wouldn't ever be. See, this party is special, it will be the first time in MANY years that ALL her grandchildren will be together at the same time. I know this will be special to her. I wondered if she would live to see this party. She did. Obviously. It was a hard road to recovery but she made it, and she is stronger now than she was before.

When I was little I lived with my grandma and grandpa (and mom too). They spoiled me like there was no tomorrow. I used to get up super early to bug my grandpa before he went to work. He'd make me breakfast and try to read the paper in between my jibber jabbering. He'd beg me to be quiet so he could read just one thing, of course, I never did shut up. But he didn't really mind. If I had a hard time getting his attention I'd put on his cowboy boots (you know 10 sizes too big) and stomp around the house. Who could ignore such cuteness?? Not my grandpa! Not my grandma either.

My grandpa passed away when I was 12, and after that I stayed lots of nights at my grandma's. I always thought she was lonely and I wanted to keep her company. Of course I never told her that, I just begged to spend the night. Once I got there though times were great. She lives in apartments so in the warm months there was always swimming. Endless hours of yahtzee and aggrevation. Grandma loved to play with me, or maybe she was just humoring me, either way the memory is there. We would do jigsaw puzzles and stay up late eating ice cream. Late as in 10 pm (oh my, I know, you can't believe she let me stay up that late, can you?) but of course once sent to bed I didn't sleep. My grandma, in a sense, was (and still is) my best friend.

Grandma used to slip me money and buy me pretty much anything my heart desired. She always waited for my call when I got home from school (when I was older and no longer lived with her) to be sure I made it home okay. If I didn't call her she would call and check in on me. Grandma has spent her life taking care of and worrying about me. Now its my turn. I worry about her quite often, but today I celebrate. Eighty years and the last year wrought with illness that nearly took her from this Earth.

So you see, to me, this 80th birthday is a miracle. Happy Birthday Grandma! I love you!