This first week of June has been full of family birthdays! Our creative C grand son turned 12 June3, my Mother in law turned 80 yesterday and today our Jazzy J son is 34 today.
Yesterday, June 5th my sweet sister in law hosted a wonderful 80th birthday bash for 'Baba' which was loads of fun! 'Baba means grandmother in Russian' and that is what most everyone calls her. After a tasty cookout we sang 'Happy Birthday' and enjoyed banana cake with cream cheese frosting. Um mm..so good. Next we took turns reading the many memory slips from the Baba's Memory jar. One of our daughters created this idea years ago. We add new ones from time to time. The memories are typed on slips of paper...some short and sweet and some arranged like pages of a good book. "The little gentleman..." Memories, memories, memories...priceless!!! We laughed and cried both. Most of the memories express the highest compliments to Helen's character. She has so many witty ways and they are well noted! She can be a hoot!
Helen is living a remarkable life and it continues to leave prints of love on every one's hearts in a unique way. I don't know anyone loved more.
There were so many birthday gifts. The best part was 'just being there' in her presence watching her smile from ear to ear. Family traveled from Texas, Arkansas and Northern Kansas to share this day and four family generations were present. The living room smelled like a flower shop! One huge homemade card was filled with sweet messages for her to read. The surprises included a big pile of cards, telephone calls from family back East and Belgium, a stack of chocolate bars and frozen lobster tails...I'm certain there were many more I didn't know about.
This morning as I reminisced about Helen, I knew I wanted to share on my blog how very important this lady is in my life. She has a great influence on my life and I try to be a better person because of her. Of course, too, without her, I would not have met the man of my dreams, my best fire proofing friend, the man I've been married to for 35+ years. He only weighed a few pounds at birth and she literally nursed him to life and health. OH THANK YOU HELEN! Helen has always been there putting family first. She has shown us all how it's possible to love unconditionally. I must add too, because I have her, her son...I have the most amazing son whose life we celebrate every day not just June 6th. He's so much like his Dad and an amazing Papa to his daughters. I am so blessed!
What I admire most about Helen is her faith in God. She puts God first. When I think of the word devoted...all the Saints and Helen come to my mind. Throughout the many years having her in my life, she has weaved precious memories of love, care and a prayer that comfort us when the cold winds come. I love having Helen in my life. Her Grand children adore her and it is evident that she has a wonderful influence on their lives and has always encouraged them to stay close to God.
Helen is remarkable and I enjoy referring to her as the matriarch of the family because it's true. She smiles every time I say that. She is a princess!
Patty - it looks like a fun time! 80 years old. That is so awesome! How Blessed she is to have all of you! I remember when my grandparents each turned 80 . . . all 4 of them! Fun memories! What is weird is thinking about my Mom, she would've turned 90 this year. he had a very hard time getting pregnant and didn't have me until she was 38. Somehow I cannot picture my Mom being 90. She'll always be just Mom.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week my friend! :) Hugs. Karen
We are all very blessed to have Baba in our lives. After listening to her memories from the memory jar, Chris commented about how she has been the cement of our family. How lucky we are to still have her at 80!
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