My grandmother worked 70 years as a nurse, has lived by herself since my grandfather’s passing 15 years ago, was caught cooking for the neighborhood post-hurricane on her charcoal grill just a few years ago, still makes the best chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever had…and she turned 90 on February 20th. NINETY. When you’ve got it, you’ve got it.
Since this year was such a milestone — in age and in reference to my mother’s passing — Ryan and I decided to do a President’s Day weekend road trip to visit her. We came baring flowers and cake and gifts, and I don’t know who was more excited, grandma or our girls. We braved the crowds of Disney (Springs, haha) and her pool’s freezing temps (E.V. and I are officially Polar Bear members now), ate with animatronic elephants and afterwards inadvertently made GGV walk a few miles, visited with her neighborhood friends and explored the history she’s collected in her home over the past nine decades. Oh, and we ate EVERYTHING in sight, as one should always do when on vacation. It was a great little trip, and we can’t wait to see her again.
Happy birthday, Great Grandma Vance!