Grandma's 90th Birthday Celebration

I don't think anyone would guess that Grandma is 90. She's been with me all my life, and when I look at her she just never seems to change. My uncle made a very nice display of "her life" yesterday. Her Wedding dress and the dress she wore the "rest of the day" on her wedding day were there. That was like reaching back in time. Of course when I see her wedding photos, I can see that she's changed. When I see photos of her taken when I was a small girl, I can see that she's changed. I guess it's my heart that sees her as unchanging. The heart certainly can see. The Grandma I knew as a little girl is still there. She is just as spunky and hardworking as ever and her eyes shine the same way. Physically, her eyes are betraying her, and she can't do most of the things that she used to enjoy so much. She needs naps, because she doesn't sleep very well at night anymore. The last thirty years have taken from her the ability to do just about everything she "used to do." That's very very difficult for her. It's depressing for her. She "used to do" a lot. She had an extensive garden. She preserved just about everything that she didn't eat or give to family and friends. She loved to crochet. She made Afghans for all of her Grandchildren as they graduated from High School. She made a beautiful receiving blanket for my oldest son when he was blessed as a baby. It is one of my prized possessions. She may not be able to do all those things physically anymore, but my heart still sees it. When she smiles I see a thousand other smiles that have crossed her face. When she speaks, I hear so many other things that she's said through the years. I saw this quote recently, and it reminds me of her:
Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together. -Pearl S. Buck
I don't know anyone who wouldn't agree that Grandma is a scolding mother - but it IS love just the same. She was always begging us to keep our shoes on in the house so that we wouldn't catch cold. I can hear her tone and inflection in my mind today as though I were sitting in her living room, 15 years old. It made me laugh then and it still does. Who asks you to put your shoes on in their house? Someone who loves you, that's who. Someone who loves you. That's what my heart sees. She loves me just as much today as when she was sending me out to pick beans and raspberries. . . and not to forget the repellant because the skeeters would eat me alive.