My grandma's birthday (part 2)

I meant to add this before but my great-grandma just celebrated her 90th birthday. Isn't that crazy? I never realized that she was getting so old. She looks old too and it makes me sad. For the last few years she has not been in the best of health. She's had diabetes for awhile, then last year had some heart problems. Plus, she is extremely heavy so now she is in a wheelchair and needs help doing things. It makes me sad even to write about it because I know we don't have much longer with her.

My parents were young when they had me. My mom turned 18 like two weeks before I was born. I spent almost everyday at my great-grandma's house. She would watch children all day. I remember once there were twins there named Mandy and Candy. That always cracked me up.

Anyway, usually there were my cousins coming in and out of her house. We would spend the day playing. We ran around the front yard and played capture the flag. We climbed her apple tree and ate those horrible crab apples. We walked to Blake's and paid 25 cents for flavored ice. We had kool-aid stands on the corner of her road. If I had to actually say it, times at her house with my cousins were the best times of my childhood. We would stay the night with her every New Year's Eve while all of our parents went out. Then at midnight, we would hit pots and pans together until a neighbor got mad at us.

It's funny because she still lives in the same house but things are so much different. For one, her yard was so big to me when I was little and even though it's the same size now, it seems so much smaller. The apple tree I fell out of when I was about 8, I can now reach the branches. She had a dip in her yard that we would all sit in and talk. That dip now could probably only fit one adult.

Times have changed too. The corner we had kool-aid stands on is now one of the busiest roads in the town. I would NEVER let my child make that walk to Blake's. Well I guess now none of us would even send our children to the front yard to play. We would all be safety enclosed in our backyards.

I guess at that time my great-grandma was already in mid/late 60's when she was taking care of me. I don't really remember my great-grandma during that time, just the fun I had. She used to give us stockings every Christmas until there got to be too many of us. I can't imagine how many grandkids she has now. She had seven children so you do the math. I do know that she has 9 great-great grandchildren. When I was born, we had 5 generations. When my nephew was born, it was five again. Pretty cool.

There are things I should find about about my family. You know that my grandma (from the same side of the family) had my dad when she was 15. I can't imagine being pregnant that young in the 50's. I have never talked to her about how it was. I need to because I have always been curious. I have also always joked how I would be the perfect 50's wife. Then I wouldn't have so much conflict about working/not working.

But folks, that is a whole other blog entry.