Happy 90th Birthday!!

Mother's delicious carrot birthday cake with apricot filing.
Mother looking at her birthday scrapbook present.
The sisters and Mother
Liz and Missy Girl
Kim plays Vanna White
Team Betty

Team Inez

Today was my mother's 90th birthday. We had a party with family and friends. It was a great time.

After the guest left, my sisters and our children and mother played a special version of Wheel of Fortune with things that would remind us of our childhood and our parents. It was so much fun. My sister Lizzie created about 20 puzzles for us to guess. We all loved it.

It was a wonderful party and I am so proud of my Mother. She is incredible.

Happy birthday Mamou!

Almost 90, but who's counting!

My mother will have her 90th birthday in a couple of days. We will have a party with family and friends. My sisters and I went shopping today for the necessary party napkins, cups, forks, etc. All of my sisters will be there and most of her grandchildren. Some old friends who we have known for most of my life.

My mother was still driving until two years ago. As her vision began to fail, she decided it was time to give up driving and she moved to Texas to be close to three of her daughters. I took almost two years, but she has adjusted and made friends here in Texas. She still walks unassisted and has very few issues with mobility. She had a stomach virus last week and is still a little weak. We will have to get her strength back for the party. She still does all her own cooking and cleaning.

Statistics shows that the current generation is the first one that will not live as long as their parents. My mother get's her longevity from her mother. She has several first cousins who are her age or close to it. When you think about living to be 90 years old, it is a little overwhelming. I just want to survive this decade healthy. If I live to be 90 I want to be healthy. I will take my vitamins tonight and get my eight hours of sleep, and hope that I will not feel older than my 50 years tomorrow.

Happy 90th Birthday, Mamoo

Parents

Today, I attended the funeral of the father of one of my long time friends, Judy. Judy's dad, Fernie, was 82 years old and had served in both World War II and the Korean Conflict. He was a charter member of my home church. He helped to build the church. Their family included me on several vacations with them when I was in junior high. I first saw the Great Smokey Mountains with them. Judy and I rode in the back of the pick up truck, sleeping a lot of the way, pulling a travel trailer as we drove through the mountains. Her dad would honk the horn when he thought we should sit up and see a site. We saw a mother black bear and her two cubs. Judy and I had dirt bikes, (like little motorcycles, not bicycles) that we rode all over the woods. I loved those vacations.

All my childhood friends were there. We sat in the pews in the church almost in the same location that our parents sat for Sunday service years ago. We have all aged, and are saying farewell to our parents. My dad died ten years ago. We said farewell to Beth's mom a few years ago in the same church. Rex has lost both his parents and a brother.

The service was wonderful. The pastor truly loved Fernie. He told funny story after story about Fernie. Fernie was from the school of thought where he spoke his mind and left no doubt how he felt about something. I believe that those people in your life that are sometimes the most difficult, are the ones you miss the most when they are gone.

I looked at the faces of people in the church and realized that several decades must have just flown right by me. My elementary school is across the street. There are new wings on the school and the playground actually had play equipment on it. The faces of the children on the playground were all dark. The complexion of the neighborhood has changed. I drove cautiously through town, afraid I would get lost. I was looking for the high school and almost drove right passed it. What had been open empty fields were now covered with large buildings. The giant "GP" on the corner made me realize that was the school. The stadium, seemed so small by todays standards, but in my day, it was a really nice stadium.

The church remains a light to the community. All are welcome to worship there. I am very blessed to have grown up there. I love this family. I pray for strength and peace for the hard days ahead. The pastor said it best. "he will miss Fernie for right now, but not for eternity."