Today is my grandma’s birthday! Pascaline calls her Gigi Ma for Great Grandma, and Blaze calls her Gigi.

Isn’t she beautiful!

See my Tabblo>

Things I love about my grandma; her beautiful long legs, how she squints her eyes when she laughs, her beautiful hands and feet (she’s so good at getting manicures), her love of a good book, her amazing gift at mailing cards for every holiday and never missing one, how she always spells Brian’s name as “brain” (he especially loves that ), the time she came to my apartment when I was first married and taught me how to can apple sauce, that her birthday is two days before mine so every year we have a special birthday celebration together (afternoon tea at Queen Mary’s being one of our favorite), how she says “Now Cherri” when she wants to correct my mom, listening to her recite the Owl and the Pussy Cat to the kids, her love for fluffy cats, going to the Korean spa together–wandering around naked and giggling so hard it hurt, countless telephone conversations where she listens so intent as I share all my fears and worries, hearing her story of seeing God when her heart stopped several years ago, that she prays for me every day, her colorful potted plants at the lake house, seeing her sunbathe and then frown as my grandpa jumps in the lake trying to splash her, hearing her stories of traveling across Asia with my dad after my parents got married (very patient woman here! ), how much joy she carries with how much pain she has endured, that she signed up for a computer class on her own a few years ago so she could email her grandchildren and stay in with the times, that she went to her first counseling appointment at 70 with a heart to learn and grow (that one always makes me cry), that she was best friends with Brian’s grandma, Dorothy, for forty years, that she loves me no matter what I do or say, she just loves me.

I love you grandma, happy birthday! Can’t wait for our tea time! Love, Me Ra