Best Decade Ever: Special birthday

Today is my grandmother's 90th birthday. She was born on the farm in Roodhouse, Illinois, in 1920, and grew up going back and forth between the farm and her parents' grocery store in Jacksonville, Illinois. Her mom died when she was 17, and when she was 20 she married my grandpa- they will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary this coming February. Not long after they got married, my grandpa went off to serve in World War II and they were separated for over three years. After he came home, they built a life together in Alton, Illinois, where they lived for over 50 years before they moved out to Ohio to be closer to all of us.

I love my grandma's personality. She is so feisty and adventurous and always has been. At one time she was a hairdresser. For several years she worked in a jewelry store. She put my dad through college making wedding cakes. She always loved going to the beach and collecting seashells. There are a ton of things I remember us doing over the years, like going on trips and making chicken & dumplings and creating homemade Christmas ornaments. As long as I have known her, my grandma has always had a plan or a scheme to go somewhere or do something. She is one of my inspirations for dreaming big.

We had a ladies' luncheon for her yesterday with some of her friends from church, so I thought I'd share a few pictures (I'll have to do another post about the delicious food). I love you, Mamaw!