Ninety Four Candles
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 12:00AM My grandmother dropped out of school and went to work to help her parents provide for her seven younger siblings before she ever finished the eighth grade.
She moved some 30 miles from home to live with a wealthy family in Pittsburgh who needed help around the house. She saw her family some weekends - not all - and to do it she had to take a bus then hitchhike the rest of the way.
Growing up, this was one of the most oft-told stories of my grandmother. For me, it illustrated her deep commitment to family, her fierce strength and her indomitable spirit.
There's another story about my grandmother that I always loved. One that shows a similar practicality that's all but unheard of today. When she got engaged, the family for whom she worked offered her a choice for her wedding gift: a beautiful wedding dress or china.
My grandmother Josephine chose the china and used it countless times over more than seven decades to serve meals to the family she loved.
Some day, my daughter Josephine will use that same china to serve holiday meals to her family too.
Today, my grandmother turns 94. Join me in shouting "Happy Birthday" over the mountains to her place in western Pennsylvania where she'll be leaving shortly to go gambling.
That's right, to celebrate her 94th birthday my grandmother's heading to the casino.
Say it now, YOU LOVE HER!
I do too.
I love her so much I named a daughter after her. The best part, the most coincidental and kind of eerie part, is that my Josephine shows much of the same spunk, fire and pluck that I so adore in my grandmother.
My grandmother Josephine makes the most delicious gnocchis you've ever tasted. Perogies and Toll House Cookies too. She once baked several hundred cookies for my cousin's wedding.... and she was a double amputee at the time. She's a devout Catholic and wicked Bingo player. She's a gardener, a joker, a whiskey lover. A sturdy Eastern European with breasts the size of Ohio, my grandmother can wrap you in the most all-consuming hug that it feels as if you've fallen into a hundred down pillows.
My grandmother has known unimaginable grief. She buried two children: a daughter at birth and another, Anna Marie, 58, who died in a car crash less than a mile from my grandmother's house. She buried her husband and all but one of her siblings as well.
She has enjoyed enviable blessings too, though: seven grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and a long, rich life that has spanned nine decades. Can you imagine? Here's hoping that we can all be so lucky.
Happy Birthday Grandma!
Reader Comments (2)
Wow! Happy birthday to her!
She reads like a fantastic person, and it is obvious that fantastic runs in the family. Just take a look in the mirror and you will also find her strength inside of you and now those beautiful children. Happy Birthday to her!