old lady with wide brimmed floppy hat smiles into the camera. she is sitting on a chair (offscreen) with her elbows on the arms. there are green leaves and ferns in the backdrop

4 Days and Counting…

In 4 days my Gramma will be 100.

And she lives with me.

And we’re starting to ramp up celebration activities!

A 3 digit countdown

Beautiful landscaping with ivy, cannas, red coleus, an iron and wood bench, RR ties, and rock are the background for 3 number 4s stacked on top of each other, set in the middle of the photo. They appear to lean a little to the right, just slightly.

We added a countdown in our front yard. Our neighbors are wonderful. They just are. We have a group chat with about 6 of us on there and we keep an eye out for each other: when we leave our garage doors up; when they’re  gone on a trip and our kids get paid to feed their cat; celebrating graduations, birth of grandkids, etc, etc, etc. We’ve hosted block parties, tailgated birthday cake at the end of driveways, gathered around firepits during covid, waved at each other, and called each other by name for years. I sincerely love and appreciate our neighborhood!

So we celebrate together.

Dinner on your 100th Birthday

Which brings me to birthday dinner. Last year we celebrated Gramma’s 99th birthday on her birthday. So we had family/friends/neighbors on our driveway and shared cake and punch. It was a beautiful memory.

beautiful old lady sits holding a cake with numbers 99 as an arm and hand reach in from the right side to light the candle numbers with a cigarette lighter. The cake reads Happyy birthday in pink with white frosting and pink rosettes around the top edge and pink sprinkles on the side. The woman smiles fainly. she si wearing a princess tiara and has on glasses, and oxygen. behind her evening has turned to dusk and porch lights line a handrail . there are black pink and white blalloons just behind her head, and what appears to be the base of a giant gold foil #9. It is a happy picture
3 elderly ladies sit on hair bales, holding hands.the one on the right holds a small chalkboard saying Shirley; the one on the left says Ronna. They are smiling and the lighting appears to be dusk. giant gold foil 99 sits atop black, pink, and white balloon pillars, centered behind the lady in the center, who is wearing a silver princess tiara

This year the celebration will be a little larger, and some of the older generation want guaranteed air conditioning (it was hot last year before sunset), and NO FLIES! Somehow, I would’ve thought that complaint would’ve come from the younger generation, but NOPE! 

So we’ll party at her church on Saturday, and she’ll worship on Sunday!

So….that brings us to dinner on her birthday. I’ve brought it up a couple of times this week. She can have anything she wants. Cost is not an issue. There will be some family members here, so there will be a jovial atmosphere, and Saturday to look forward to. But finally last night we had a quiet uninterrupted moment together, and I asked her again what she wanted for supper on her birthday. 

She seemed a little hesitant, almost embarrassed to answer, so I waited, wondering: what would I ask to eat on MY 100th birthday?! Finally, she said, “Well, I want peanut butter and jelly on some of your homemade bread.”

I laughed out loud. It’s so simple; it’s perfect; it’s HER!

How Old are You?

She remembers when sliced bread came out.

She has told about getting sliced bologna for the first time at the grocery store. And no, it wasn’t packaged; it was in a log.

She loves candy because she never had any as a kid.

She lived before plastic.

Before air conditioning.

Before indoor plumbing.

Before everyone had a car.

Before phones.

And here I sit writing about her on my phone, in my AC, thinking about lunch, and I wonder: 

(Is it just me, or is this blog becoming the perfect ad for Jif peanut butter?)

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Andrea Sutcliffe

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