Last Thursday I hopped a plane to Denver to see my gramma-in-law, Marie. She was turning the big 9-6 that following Sunday. I met with my mom-in-law, Patty, and sis-in-law, Wendy at the Denver airport. We girls had a great time over those 4 days. We got to see Gramma's sisters, all 3 of them. Each one over 85! They're an amazing bunch. They get together and talk about the old times on their farm and they LAUGH, LAUGH, and LAUGH! It's so contagious! Gramma is the oldest so she, of course, has the most memories. Gramma was born in 1914 and just to be around her and hear her speak of all of things that have gone on in this world since then is just amazing. I feel like a newborn compared to all of the wisdom she has. I am so fortunate to have her in my life. All four of my grandparents and step-grandfather have passed away so I feel especially close to her; I call her 'Gramma' and have told her that she's become my surrogate grandparent. Heck, this lady even flew in for a surprise birthday party for me when she was 90! As you can tell I have great admiration and respect for her. I think she enjoyed having us around, Patty, Wendy, and I tried to pamper her as much as we could in the 4 days we were there. We took her shopping. Wendy and I acted as her personal shoppers as we grabbed outfits and brought them to her for her opinion. In the end, we bought 2 nice outfits and a lovely blazer that looked beautiful on her. On her actual birthday we took her to one of her favorite restaurants, The White Fence Farm. This was the second time I had been to this restaurant and it never disappoints! The food is served 'family style' and you get your fill of bean salad, cottage cheese, cole slaw, yummy corn fritter sprinkled with powdered sugar, and beets. Next, they bring out the delicious fried chicken--YUM! The waitresses sang 'Happy Birthday' to Gramma and she and I split a piece of lemon meringue pie and Patty and Wendy split some chocolate toffee pie. We all left for our separate destinations the next day. It was hard leaving Gramma, but we promised to be back. Later that day, I called her to tell her I'd arrived home and she said she was so grateful for us. That day after we left she was able to sit down and relax and not worry about a thing. We had left plenty of food in the fridge and cleaned her house. This blog post is just a tribute to a great woman, a great matriarch, an admirable human being. I hope for many, many more birthdays for Gramma Marie!
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