jaunthie | Happy Century, Grandma!

Work is pretty busy right now, as is life. I need more time in the garden (if only the schedule and weather would cooperate) and at home to get chores done and make progress on various projects. But life is what it is. Time goes on for all of us. And for one of us, a lot of time has gone by, indeed.

Today, my grandmother J is 100 years old. A century has passed since she was born. She has experienced a lot during her lifetime, including:

being left behind by her parents when she was four. They left her with her grandparents so that they could go to the new world, earn money, and hopefully make enough to bring her and her brother over too

suffering rejection from one set of grandparents because she was just a girl (they only wanted the boy)

surviving World War I whomping its way through her village, including shells, trenches, and the retreat of the rags of the Russian army on their way back to Russia (to this day she is not fond of Russians)

nearly starving to death in the aftermath of the war

Emigrating to the United States with her mother (who came back for her) and her brother when she was 16, not speaking a word of English (and yes, she came in through Ellis Island)

working in factories and menial jobs while learning to speak English

losing her mother to a heart attack within two years of her arrival

meeting, falling in love, and marrying a wonderful man (my grandfather) who was "not of the community" and coping with her brother's disapproval of same (he wouldn't come to her wedding, and there were other problems afterwards). My grandfather's family was ahead of its time and much more supportive of marrying outside of their community, but there was fallout there too from cousins and the like

World War II in New York, where grandfather worked 18-hour days in the shipyards and she kept everything going at home AND worked at her job AND had a lovely daughter (my mom)

raising her beautiful, talented daughter to be an incredible, independent woman, and seeing her launch into her own life and move across the country

keeping Grandpa healthy when he developed diabetes at 40 (he was able to control it through diet alone until he was in his 70's

making the trek every summer for years to "the back end of beyond" to visit with her daughter, son-in-law, and her grandchildren (she and Grandpa always brought boxes of "real food" that we didn't have "in the wilderness," like pillowy Italian ravioli, proper kielbasa, Syrian bread, pistachios that weren't dyed red, and big dried apricots)

surviving cancer and chemotherapy in her 80's

Leaving her beloved New York behind and moving to "the wilderness" to be where the family could help take care of Grandpa (and her) in her 90's

losing Grandpa after 64 years of marriage

eliciting chortles from her great-grandson

She is a survivor, a tough lady, and a remarkable individual. She still reads the New York Times from front to back every day, goes for her daily constitutional walk (with a walker now, but still), and enjoys classical music and the Arts channel. She's frail in some ways, takes a lot of medicines, but she keeps on keeping on, and shows no sign of stopping.

Szczęśliwy dzień urodzenia, Babcia! Dobre zdrowie!