All Because Two People Fell in Love

We were gathered together to celebrate her 93rd Birthday! Ninety- three years old . . . now so alone and yet not, with more than 100 people who, in one way or another, share her name. Her oldest children talked about retirement and ailments or shared their pride in their adult grandkids. Her younger children chased after their own grandchildren, making sure they didn’t get lost. With the spread, it was hard to tell where one generation ends and where the next one begins. That’s what happens in large families.

The tables were laden with large bowls of salads, fried chicken, ham, cold meatballs

and Zwieback . . . which, until not that long ago, were always made by her.

Her Birthday cake was a carrot cake with cream cheese icing and dried pineapple flowers.

I asked her if she was enjoying her food . . . she said she could hardly eat… the only way she could express her feeling was to say that inwardly she was crying . . . all these people . . . from one mom! Well, I wanted to say that she did not give birth to all of us, but I knew what she meant.

People were spread all over the beautifully landscaped yard . . .

babies on highchairs or on a blanket,

young children on swings,

or chasing the candy man.

Young adults playing volleyball

and others catching up on life in general.

Now I realize this all sounds like a long country song . . . but for this day it was real . . . a real family . . . just taking one day to be in one place to reminisce and give thanks.
Thanks for a Mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother who has made it her mission to care about each individual in her family for as long as she is able to.