our oldest friend

i've been honored to have quite a few friends over the years who were eligible for the senior discount, but so far i've only known one to hit the century mark. our friend edith lived to be 106...and a half. i may have only known her for the part of her life, but even as she neared and then passed one hundred years, the best words to describe her were funny and feisty. you wouldn't typically expect a centenarian to surprise you with an off hand comment that makes everyone belly laugh, but edith did. last november we were able to celebrate with her on her 106th birthday, and she treated us to a song at my request. she had a good one about overalls, but that day i picked "i wish i was born a boy, oh gee", which was another edith classic. she wasn't quite up to her usual hip shaking, but she sang us every word with gusto.

we'll miss you granny.

Read more

eggs and horses

we stayed in kansas city this easter, which marked the first time i haven't been in st. louis for at least part of a major holiday. there were things i missed about easter in st. louis, but i was glad to be able to celebrate the best holiday with our church family in kc. plus my mom came to town and i still got to hunt for eggs, so i really can't complain.

since our siblings had other family events to attend i figured it was time to host my first holiday meal. it wasn't fancy, but it was fun! don and debbie came over and we had a little easter feast. i was pretty proud of myself.  

this past weekend we headed to st. louie because our presence had been requested for the 140th running of the kentucky derby. last year we just so happened to be at edith and edna's house celebrating my mom's birthday on derby day and it became quite the event. edna requested that we make it a tradition and we were happy to oblige.

i have to say that my favorite part of the day was when granny was watching us finish our game of dominoes and suddenly burst into song. it went a little something like this...

oh the big leg-ged women wear the big leg-ged drawers,

but me and my cousin we wear overalls.

classic.

Read more

100 birthdays for picklepuss

my friend edith turned 100 today. she is hilarious...and kind of feisty. i kept pointing out the fact that she is now 100 [because really, how often does that happen?] and she kept pointing out the fact that she is now older than dirt. during her birthday dinner, she paused to sing us the star spangled banner. just because she loves living in america. she told lots of stories, the most memorable being the one about how when she was younger she was given the nickname picklepuss at work...because there was also another edith that worked at the casket making company and it was too confusing. true story.

so happy birthday edith. you're definitely a special one.

marilyn . shelly . edith . edna

Read more