Happy Birthday Grandmother!!!

Ella Florine Cook Wallace

Today is my grandmothers birthday. She is 90 years young today. My grandmother has always been a fascinating person to me. She gave birth to 8 children, 1 boy, 7 girls. Her only son passed away at 6 months from complications to an illness. She has also suffered the loss of her husband and 3 grandchildren (including my sweet sister).

This is my grandmother holding me as a baby.

I find that I can relate to my grandmother's life - especially at this point in my own life -- like my grandmother, I too have a wide age range for my children -- I have two adult children and one preK child. My grandmother has 5 grandchildren who are older than her youngest child. She didn't have time to be the "conventional" grandmother since she was still raising her own children at the same time her grandchildren were coming along. BUT, that is ok. She was and still is a very FUN person!!! When I graduated from high school she asked me what I wanted as a gift.....I told her I wanted one of her famous "duck feather" pillows. She made me one and I kept it until it fell apart.

She has lived an awesome 90 years....so many changes in this country and world that she has seen or been a part of. She was left alone during WWII with 3 girls while her husband was fighting overseas. She could fish, hunt, and do whatever was necessary to take care of her family, and at the same time she was very much the "lady." She came from an era where women didn't have the right to vote; women took "care" of the house and children and their "man." Now she has granddaughters who are feminist, who are professionals, who work outside the home, who have chosen not to marry or who have chosen not to have children or they have several children; and those granddaughters are greatful to that grandmother who fought along with others so that they could have the right to vote and make choices for themselves.

I find some things very amusing with my grandmother. When I took sweet hubby to a family get together for the first time after we started dating, my grandmother told me that I needed to fix sweet hubby a plate of food and serve him......ummm, yea, that isn't happening!!! I just smiled and told grandmother that sweet hubby had two legs and two arms and he knew where the food was and if he was hungry he would take care of himself!!! Umm, yea, she was a little taken back by that but eventually she became used to her granddaughters "way out there" ideas.

This is a five generation picture that includes Great Grandmother (center seat) Grandmother (r) mom (l) and myself with Sarah (standing)

Even to this day when grandmother goes out "to town" she must be dressed appropriately including the makeup and LIPSTICK!! She is sometimes shocked that women don't "dress" appropriately for going out (and that includes applying the LIPSTICK), and by going out I mean things like Walmart or the grocery store. I hardly ever wear makeup these days and very rarely do I wear the lipstick, but I give grandmother a lot of credit, she does set the example for us even if we don't always follow it!!

My grandmother at 82 on a cruise with 5 of her 7 daughters and 4 granddaughters.

On Sunday we will be helping her to celebrate her wonderful life by attending church with her in her small town and then having a reception to honor her. I think I am very blessed to be a part of this wonderful lady's family. She is so intelligent, funny, and such a lady!!! Happy Birthday Grandmother!!!

For now the doctor is out, hoping she can live up to her legacy....and hoping she inherited those longevity genes!!!