Monday, August 7, 2017

Happy 91st birthday Aunt Grace!

My mom's third youngest sister is 91 years old today, and she wears it as gracefully as her name. There she is with two of her nine great grandchildren. The photo below is of two of her eight granddaughters, with another one of her greats. She also has one grandson among those eight granddaughter girls.

I've probably lost you in all the numbers, but here's another cherished one: Aunt Grace is one of the six girls in my mom's family, and they stayed extraordinarily close their entire lives. Three of the six, including my mom, are gone now, and the youngest two are not doing well. One had a stroke last week and is in the hospital as I write this. She also suffers from Alzheimers. The other is in and out of hospital with respiratory issues, and is too weak to travel anywhere else. Aunt Grace is the only one left who is up and about, jet setting between her children in Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Vancouver.


Those are the Vancouver granddaughters. There are four of them. The one that's missing now lives in Alberta with her husband and five kids. As you can see, our birthday girl has spawned some good looking offspring. In case you think that's an accident, here's a photo of Grace when she was in her early twenties. She was a beauty then, and she's a beauty now, inside and out, but even more than that, Aunt Grace has a delightful wit, and it doesn't quit. Her laugh rings out like bells.

Aunt Grace lives in Toronto, and loves having her own apartment, even though her two daughters both live in very elegant houses with suites set aside for her. Aunt Grace has many friends in Toronto, people she calls her "angels." Her daughters flew to be with her for her big day. She is the sister whose voice is so like my mother's even their own children couldn't tell them apart. That she is 91 today, and doing well, fills my heart to bursting.

11 comments:

  1. She has more...grace...in her little finger than I will ever have in my entire life.
    She is incredibly beautiful as are her descendants.
    What a family you have!

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  2. Just gorgeous, in every way.

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  3. Oh MY Aunt Grace is deee-vine is she not?? I would not guess her age to be more than 60, she is beautiful!! When and if you ever visit the Grand daughters in Vancouver , I live just below the city, come for tea!! You certainly have the gorgeous/smart gene thing going on in your family. How fortunate y'all are! ( still sending wishes for good health to your husband, always in my thoughts)

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  4. Happy Birthday to yet another amazing member of your family!

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  5. What a beautiful, lively woman she is, like all the women in your family!

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  6. What beauty indeed! Inside and out. Happy Birthday to the now-matriarch (I believe?) on your mom's side of the family. It must give you a catch in your throat to hear her voice, so like your mother's ... Awhile back, I saw (from behind) a man in a wheelchair who looked so much like my late father. It made me stop in my tracks. It was a funny feeling, for just a second or two, until my brain caught up and I realized it was not possible.

    Lovely pictures.

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  7. Happy birthday to your beautiful Aunt Grace! Beauty in all ways runs in your family.

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  8. Lovely pictures, and gorgeous baby! My Mum's name was Grace, and it is becoming a popular name these days for babies here in UK. Your Aunty doesn't look her age at all....in fact she looks very similar to an actress called Pam St. Clement, who used to be in " Eastenders" one of our most popular soaps. (Pam is about 75 now )

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  9. When I first saw this pic on Instagram, my heart did a little leap. She looks so much like my Mom! Beautiful, yes. Like all your family.

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  10. I come from a line of good women too so I know how proud you must be of the legacy that is now your to carry. And yes. You are all extraordinarily beautiful.

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  11. Bravo and happy birthday to Aunt Grace! She looks wonderful!

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