Thursday, March 30, 2006

Thursday Thirteen: Granny is Turning 90!

Thirteen things about Courtney's grandma (Granny)

My grandma, who we all call "Granny", will be 90-years-old on Tuesday, so I thought I'd do my Thursday Thirteen about her today!

1. She was born on April 4, 1916.

2. She has been married 3 times, but has never been divorced. She has out-lived all 3 of her husbands!!!

3. Her first husband died when they were very young...I don't know the exact age, but upper teens or early 20's not long after they were married. They didn't have any kids together. (I also cannot remember what caused his death! I know I've been told, but it escapes me right now.)

4. Her second husband was the one she had her 2 children with (my dad and my uncle), so he was my grandpa. He died when I was around 2 years old (of lung cancer), so I never really knew him. I do remember seeing pictures of me with him, one of which he had set me on top of the refrigerator for some reason? lol

5. Granny was then single for a few years after he died, before she eventually married again sometime in the early-mid 1980's. Her third husband was someone she had been friends with for years, and his wife had also died. He had done some carpentry work for her on her house, and eventually they got married. His name was Herman, and that's what we called him too.

6. Granny and Herman loved to travel together. They bought an RV and took many wonderful trips together for many years. We went with them a few times in the RV. It was fun. They also owned a cabin near a lake (that Herman built), where they would go stay several times a year. I remember going there with them a couple times when I was younger, and I had so much fun fishing and hanging out by the lake and at the cabin with them.

7. Sadly, she became a widow again when Herman died of cancer around 1998 (give or take a year, can't remember for sure). This happened the day I had left to go out of state for a week. It was a required trip for a college class I was taking at the time, so once I did find out, I couldn't get back home (we had all taken a van together, so I didn't have my own transportation or anything). The funeral was during that week before I returned home, so I missed it. I still feel guilty about that! My husband was asked to be one of the pallbearers, which he was honored to do.

8. You cannot go to Granny's house without being fed. She always has a meal, or at least lots of snacks and drinks made up no matter what time of day you stop by. And breakfast was our favorite, which always included biscuits and her own homemade white gravy that we all called "Granny's Groovy Gravy" Yummmmy! I have lots of memories of our family and my uncle, cousins, etc being at her house and everyone sitting around the kitchen eating, talking, drinking, telling dirty jokes, and just having a good time. Granny likes to laugh and likes dirty jokes, and listening to various comedians. And when we were younger, she would always pull me and/or my sister aside and give us some money. We would always tell her she didn't need to do that, but she always insisted.

9. Granny always has a fire burning in her fireplace (except in summer). I love fireplaces, and I'm sure that is where I first developed my love for them. Her wood-burning fireplace and hearth and mantle are huge and the focus of her family room, and I could sit and just stare into those flames.

10. She can sew, knit, crochet, do wood-working, and make just about anything. She taught me some of this when I was younger, although I have forgotten so much of it! She has made a lot of her own clothes, and they look professional. She still takes classes sometimes just for fun to learn new things (like painting, doll making, etc). She also loves to do crossword puzzles.

11. I have always admired and looked up to Granny. She is a strong lady with many talents. She's one tough country chick!!!

12. Even now within days of turning 90, she is still active, lives alone in a large house on a big farm, and takes complete care of herself. She still has many hobbies and interests, gets her hair done almost every week, and still goes out with her friends (although she has out-lived most of them too). As I mentioned in a previous post, she even still runs around in shorts in the summer time, and looks good in them! She helps people whenever she can, and although I don't ask her for anything, I know she would give me the world if I needed it.

13. I can only hope that I will live as long and healthy and as full of a life as she is living!

HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY GRANNY!!!

If you are participating in Thursday Thirteen, please add yourself to the auto-linky thing below.


36 comments:

Wystful1 said...

Beautiful, beautiful tribute to your grandmother!! Happy Birthday to her too on Tuesday!!!

My T T is up.

Melzie said...

Aww... :) Granny sounds like an AWESOME lady. I just talked with my grammie yesterday afternoon... I wish she lived closer... but, we talk and write often. :)

Master Enigma said...

Your Granny sounds like a delightful person. Have you thought about interviewing her and capturing her stories on video tape?



My own 13 is wondering if it is going to make it's 1st birthday over at http://akaenigma.blogspot.com/

owlhaven said...

Pretty lady!

mary, mom to many

Kimmy said...

Happy 90th Birthday, Granny!

What a lovely tribute to a lovely lady. Granny sounds like "good people to me".

I'm glad you still have her and that you have such wonderful memories of/with her!

Karin said...

She sounds like a wonderful lady! What a great tribute to her :)

Dale Challener Roe said...

Nice tribute.

My 13 is up.

Kate said...

Wow that is such a sweet tribute to her. She is so pretty! She looks amazing for 90. I hope she can read this beautiful post (or you read it to her!) :) Thanks for sharing!

Norma said...

She looks so lovely. You are so fortunate to have her in your life. May she have many more happy, healthy years.

Thanks for visiting my TT.

Lazy Daisy said...

Wow, what great stock you come from. She's gorgeous too! I remember many great meals at my grandmother's house..Lovely tribute to a lovely lady. You take after her too!

Leanne said...

What a cool granny you've got there! Happy B-day Granny!!!

Lisa said...

Aw! I wish my grandmother(s) were still alive. She sounds wonderful. :)

Amanda said...

What a great list! It made me think of my own grandma... I'll have to give her a call today.

My 13 are up.

Movin Mom said...

Courtney -I love the set up on having someone add their link--You are a computer diva
Love the Grandma 13- I am sure she could BLOG quite the interesting posts given her life story.

YellowRose said...

When I grow up, I wanna be just like your granny!!

What a beautiful tribute to an awesome woman! Thanks for sharing her with us!

Thanks for stopping by my 13 today! Happy Thursday!

Heather Smith said...

awesome list. Her activeness reminds me of my great-grandma before she died.

Unknown said...

She sounds like an amazing woman. Wow, outliving 3 husbands. That must have been tough. Happy Birthday Granny!

Tanya said...

Happy birthday to Granny.

My 13 are up.

Anonymous said...

You are so lucky to have her! What a great role model! Happy birthday to her. :)

Anonymous said...

she sounds awesome. maybe she'll find a #4;)

Fern Bourrie said...

Wow! That's great! Happy Birthday Granny!!!

WendyWings said...

Your Granny sounds amazing. Happy birthday to her and thanks for stopping by my TT as well :)
You were lucky number one today.

Just Me said...

Aren't Grannies just the best!

Thanks for visiting my TT
Elle xx

-tnchick- said...

What a great list about her. She certainly is an inspiration. Wow that she has outlived 3 hubbys! Happy Birthday to her on Tuesday.

Renee Nefe said...

Happy Birthday Granny! She sounds like an awesome grandma! She deserves an award. :D

My beef with PayPal is that we have been trying to change ownership on our LLL account to my name and they refuse to do it...keep adding more hoops to jump through. AND they have been promising me since last June that they would be able to use our LLL tax id number instead of my SS and still can't do it. So I have to wonder how long they expected me to wait.

A good substitute for Thin Mints is Keebler Grasshopper Cookies. It's what we use when we eat all our Thin Mints.

Renee Nefe said...

PayPal is good for personal use...not so good for businesses.

Katherine said...

Oh what a great woman! How wonderful for you that she's your grandma.

Nature Girl said...

Wow! Your Ganny is an amazing woman! What a wonderful post! thanks for visiting mine. Stacie

Leesa said...

This is really lovely :)

-R- said...

Very sweet!

Unknown said...

Nice tribute to a remarkable woman. I hope she has a grand birthday.

The Schooligan said...

Mmmmm. Biscuits and gravy. It's like kryptonite to me. I should have been born in the south.

jeni said...

well happy birthday granny! :) i miss all my grandmother's. they were so cool.

and too cool! she shares a birthday with my daughter!! AWESOME! :)

have a lovely day! :)

The Ten O' Clock Habit said...

For some strange reason, the auto-linky wouldn't work on my browser. Just the same, thanks for sharing these beautiful bits about Granny! Made me miss mine so much as I was very close to her, too. Happy Birthday, Granny! Hooray for a beautiful life and loving family!!!

Paisley said...

Wow, she sounds amazing. I can't imagine losing three husbands like that. How terrible.

SlackerMom said...

Happy B-Day to your Granny! What a sweet post. Thanks for visiting my TT!