Cecilia was born! Happy Birthday to my GRANDma! My grandma is lovely and amazing. Feisty and sweet, and a really strong woman - she served as a great role model to me. She is always there for her family. And she has quite the family! (note on photo: taken at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, more information on a photo note towards the bottom of the post. But when I showed this photo to Dave he said, she looks familiar. And I said, yeah, like my gram? And he said, no, she looks like Mel (Kristen Schaal) from Flight of the Conchords. And you know what, she kinda does!)
When asked how many kids she has, she always says, "I had 5 kids in 7 years and they were always clean with their clothes ironed." In addition to her 5 kids, she has 13 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. That might seem like a lot, but we're talking Irish Catholic! (note on photo: my grandparents in Ireland in 1969)
When I was growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and they were everything to me. My grandma taught me how to do crafty things, how to bake Irish soda bread, and most importantly, she taught me how to read. I learned to read at a pretty young age and I remember feeling like I really accomplished something. Like the doors to a whole new world had just flown off the hinges. (note on photo: my grandparents on what appears to be the ferry to Mackinac (pronounced mack-in-aw) Island in Michigan, no date. Pretty snazzy dressers, eh?)
My grandma taught me many things, and she always made me feel special. Here is a photo of a Cabbage Patch Kid birthday cake she made for me when I was about 8 or 9 years old. She was quite the cake decorator! Every Easter she made frosted (Betty Crocker style) lamb cakes with jelly bean eyes, and a red licorice mouth.
And a photo of us from my recent trip to Wisconsin to celebrate her 90th birthday.
Back in the day my grandma was really quite stylish! As a kid I loved to play in her closets (she had two, the lucky lady!) because they were full of neatly stacked shoe boxes and rows of matching purses. I would take them down to play with them, pretending I was going on fancy dates and to important meetings. They were all framed and I liked to snap them shut to emphasize just how fancy and important I was. I still like a framed bag. Something so satisfying about the "snap" as it shuts away its contents. (there is a note on this photo at the bottom of the post, this is a close-up, full photo is below. She was nearly 6 feet tall by the way, how I wish I got some of her height!)
I would stay with my grandparents all summer and so as a kid I enjoyed being with older people. I liked going places with my grandma, such as her ladies' meetings, and to the beauty shop. She went to the beauty shop every Saturday for a "wash and set." Can you imagine having the time to get your hair done every week?! Sometimes once every five weeks is beyond me. (note on photo above: taken of my grandparents at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, ((the place that later became a concert hall and where I went to see PiL in high school)) it was taken at the Harvest Moon Ball. I'm pretty sure it was their engagement photo - they got engaged at the dance. I wish I could fix the photo, but my photoshop skills are slight.)
When I would stay with my grandparents in the summer they were already retired and liked to take meals at a family restaurant in town. I remember sitting at the table with them and singing to her, "you're 65, you're beautiful, and you're my grandma." She just laughed. It seems like yesterday and now she is 90! My oh my how fast the time did fly! (note on the photo above: the back of the photo has my grandmother's handwriting and says, "Oct. '46 Smokey Mtns. Tennessee, my honey and me." I think the was taken on their honeymoon.)
Posts
