ninety one

Today is a very special day on my side of the family tree ... our matriarch turns 91 ...

This treasured photo was taken at a family reunion we had at Christmastime 3 years ago at my mother's home in West Virginia. Our beloved GiGi (short for Great Grandmother) is the sparkly one in the center - each of her 2 daughters by her side. My mother is the daughter on the right and I'm the one directly above my grandmother. My mother had a daughter and a son (my brother is the man furthest to the left with his arm around his wife - they have since had that sweet baby girl, my goddaughter, who was baptized in Florida this past August). And I, of course, have 2 daughters - you can spot them in black dresses in the front with the other great grandchildren. My mother's sister (to the left of GiGi with the white hair) had one son (standing right next to my brother - his pregnant wife is in red) and 3 daughters, who are all right around my age ...

That's me with the headband. Together with the 2 grandsons, that makes 6 grandchildren for GiGi - and we all grew up together in South Florida, right around the corner from one another. Really precious years, I'm lucky as a ladybug to have had it that good. All grown up now, the grandchildren have all married and all had children of our own - at this point, GiGi has an impressive fourteen great-grandchildren (4 more since the reunion photo!) - 6 boys and 8 girls. Can you even imagine?

She was born in 1919 - that alone takes my breath away. Her father was in Italy, fighting in World War ONE when she was born. The Titanic went down only 7 years before her birth. The youngest of nine children, she grew up in a completely different world than anything we could ever imagine these days ... and she's long outlived all of her siblings, none of whom made it past 80 ...

The above photos were just taken in August while we were in West Virginia, and they are truly 2 of my favorites - full of joy, GiGi was really present on the afternoon I snapped these pictures. Over the last few years, her age has really caught up with her - her tiny body has become increasingly frail and, worse, her mind has been sliding down the slippery slope of dementia ... it's been heartbreaking to see her so confused by things we all take for granted. She'll wake at 2 am and get dressed for the day, she'll ask me how I'm liking college, and she has a tough time with simple tasks, so she's had a full-time caretaker living with her for the last year. It's a little like Groundhog Day every day for her ... every day is a new beginning since she has no more understanding of time - not the time of day, the day of the week, or even the date. She won't even realize it's her birthday when she wakes up today.

Thank goodness, though, she always remembers us - our faces, our names, and, most important, our love. And in spite of the fact that lights might be growing dim, she is still a very grand lady - and such a special treasure to all of us. She's our matriarch, the tippity top of our family tree, the one we all came from, the glue that holds us together. My grandmother - my namesake. Happy Birthday, Dear GiGi!!