In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer -Albert camus

wow. I can't believe I did this. I let myself be busy all day and forgot what a special day it was!

My Grandma turned 100 years old today. I have thought about it several times this week. I even had my kids make cards last Sunday. But Today. THE day. I didn't think about it til 11:05 pm.

Unthinkable.

Inconceivable.

Unforgivable.

She lives in Wyoming. She is the most amazing woman. It can be intimidating and/or empowering to know the same blood runs in my veins. I vacillate between those feelings but mostly it imparts a tangible feeling of strength.

I used to want to be like her. Then as I matured, I realized that to be like her I would have to experience some of the same things to gain like-experience. I stopped wanting to be like her.

Her father was murdered when she was 14. It was a small town disagreement turned into a feud by gossip. A very prideful, angry man couldn't get over feeling like he'd been shown up by my great grandfather. One day in town he asked him to step behind a building "to talk" and shot him twice in cold blood. He ran out from behind the building declaring "I told him I'd shoot him and I did" My grandma Lucy was nearby. She described running after the wagon they carried her father away in touching his feet, sobbing, until the wagon got too fast to keep up with. Couldn't someone have stopped the wagon and let her hold him and cry??? I cried too when I read that. The killer was tried. He claimed in court he had felt threatened and also had friends on the jury. When the jury was deadlocked, he was released and the judge chose not to retry the case. Grandma was very bitter about that.

She lost a little daughter, about 2 years old, to acute appendicitis.

Her husband's health was ruined from an on the job accident and was sick for years. This was well before company's were held accountable for problems like this. It was up to her to support their family and care for him. She taught school. When laws passed that would make her teaching certificate void within a few years, she took correspondence classes by mail and traveled to faraway cities during the summer to take classes she couldn't complete by correspondence and received the necessary education required to remain a teacher.

She also cared for a chronically ill daughter for years.

In the space of about 6 months she lost 3 more family members. Her husband died. Within weeks she went into early labor bringing her son into the world too early to survive. He only lived a day or two. Within a few months her teenage daughter who had struggled with her own illnesses died. I imagine myself facing those circumstances and shrivel.

So much loss. So much pain. Aand amidst all this she raised 6 amazing children to adulthood, including, of course, my angel mother, inspired a love of learning in countless children as a teacher and loved God, holding tight to her faith of eternal families and that her Savior would carry her in her darkest hours.

She loves her family, both living and dead. She has spent countless hours researching her family history and taking those names to the temple to share the blessings of the gospel with them. She told me several times over the years, very confidently " I have always wanted to live to be 100 and I told Heavenly Father I would continue to work as hard as I can on my genealogy if he'll let me and I'm pretty sure I'm going to make it!"

I lived in the same little Wyoming town with her until I was 8 yrs old. As a grandmother she was always teaching me something. She always had a new book to show you and interesting information to share. She bought the whole Nancy Drew and Hardy boys series one year. My sister Christy and I read them voraciously. I can still picture them on the shelf lined up in blue and yellow. She caught a butterfly one day for me and dropped a ball of alcohol soaked cotton in the jar to gas it and then she placed it in a little gold box on top of a square of cotton. She taught me all about butterflies that day. One day in a fierce mood she taught me that my mother was not only my mother but her beloved daughter and she commanded my siblings and I to "quit fighting because we were making her daughter so sad". She taught me about interesting colors I never would have known about like "puce". She taught me to crochet. She would get out a box of metal triangles and teach me about music. I can still see her cock her head and with sparkling eyes encourage "come with me, I want to show you something."

Grandma Lucy's house was interesting, a little mysterious & wild. She had big glass terrariums filled with earth and plants and tiny frogs & colorful metal peacock wall sculptures. She had this black leather ottoman you could turn on it's side, lay on top of and roll around on. She had the grooviest bathroom carpet; Red and black with a diamond pattern. For some reason I loved her bathroom. It seemed so big. There were built in cavernous cupboards with slanted doors it's hard to describe. I used to open them up and look at all the bottles inside, sniffing the perfumes and lotions, medicines. There were drawings of beautiful girls holding instruments with the word "Harlequin" underneath. What in the world did that mean? It seemed to be such a romantic, faraway, interesting word. The back bedroom had a round bed! yes, a round bed and colorful, groovy 60's wallpaper with "peace" and "love" and daisy's. It had been my youngest aunt's room. I remember hearing that Grandma made the bed frame herself. Is that true mom? The hall was packed with photographs of all her family. You could always find yourself there amongst the cousins, aunts and uncles. I felt important being part of that group that was so important to her.

I could go on and on. She is strong. She is bold. She is intelligent. She is Invincible Summer. She is my Grandma and she always made me feel special.

Happy 100th birthday Grandma!!!!

(and if you find her as fascinating as I do... here are 3 more memories inked by my brother)