Grandma Dot

This week would've been Grandma Dot's 99th birthday. If she were still here, she would celebrate by accomplishing a feat that most 99-year-olds don't do. She celebrated her 80th birthday on a water slide, and hosted a huge backyard tea party for all her friends for her 90th. Grandma died at 91. She's a hard woman to forget.

She married at 39 and bore her first child at 41 {Thanks, Grandma, for taking the pressure off :) }! Grandma was THE Hostess. Never fancy or pretentious, she knew how to put everyone at ease. So at ease, in fact, that she developed mild narcolepsy...and even fell asleep while hosting a neighbor for tea. I remember her laid-back but engaged manner, and the genuine interest she had in people around her.

Because she lived in Canada, we never saw her much, but she wrote warm letters and visited often for Thanksgiving. She had a twinkle in her eye that resembled mischief, and she was the first to help with pranks when we had the idea. The man my Dad is tells all about the kind of woman my grandmother was. Grandma was gone before I really got to know her, but I have a feeling we would have been kindred spirits. She was a dear soul. She found tremendous delight in being alive and cherished more friends than anyone else I've met. Grandma Dot was resilient, persevering, joyful and determined. She will always be a treasure.