Yes, she received a birthday card from President Obama, as well as her local Congressman and about a hundred other friends and relatives. She has a big family (she had seven children), and many of them came to Pennsylvania to celebrate her birthday -- people from as far away as Texas, Colorado, Washington, Massachusetts.
The party was at her assisted-living facility, which was kind enough to lend us the activity room for the afternoon.
After the party, many of the clan gathered at a campsite for s'mores and sparklers.
On Sunday there was a picnic, where the youngest member of the family introduced her kitten to the centenarian.
Sunday afternoon brought a trip to the old homestead -- a farmhouse that had been in the family from sometime in the 1800s until the children -- B's generation -- had to sell it in 1986.
They passed it on to a family that were actually distant relatives. The now-elderly couple still lives there. On Sunday B's mother, age 100, saw the "new" owner, age 90, for the first time in a number of years.
We took a tour of the house, which, honestly, looked more its age from the inside than the outside. But, I was told, there were two new bathrooms. When the house was in the family -- and B and her brothers and sisters and cousins used to go there in the summer -- there was just an outhouse attached to the back of the building. A lot of things about the house seemed different since she was a girl, reflected B, including the kitchen which seems much smaller than she remembered.
The house is now registered as an official historic site.
And here's the view from the front porch, down the road toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the little village of Morgantown, Pa.
Would that we all had such great memories of childhood ... and the genes for living such a long and fruitful life.
14 comments:
Congratulations to the birthday lady! And thanks for the pictures to go along with the post, Tom. It made me feel like I was there, too. :-)
What a lovely celebration. I hope I reach the age of 100, as my mother died at age 99.
Thanks for the great story about your mother in law's 100th party. We celebrated my mother's 100th in February. She had such wonderful stories about her life, including horse drawn wagons delivering ice for "ice boxes" and a rag man doing early "recycling", even dirt roads in our now very busy town. They were a remarkable generation, they don't make them like that anymore. Thanks Tom.
Congratulations. I don't think, Connie's MIL Frnces received a card from President Obama when she turned 100 two years ago. Perhaps that's something new?. Your friend's mom must have political connections. Frances' house was sold and will probably be part of Route 66 in the future.
B's mom looks great! You'll have to ask her the secrets to her long life. Good genes always help too.
She sounds like a wonderful person, and yes it's been a long and rewarding life.
Isn't that amazing. I can't even imagine living to that age. She looks like she is doing well mentally and physically. Good genes are a blessing.
What a great reason for family to get together and celebrate.
"Would that we all had such great memories of childhood ... and the genes for living such a long and fruitful life." Great words to live by! Thanks for sharing this post and photos.
Donna
Happy 100th Birthday to B's mother!
That is quite a milestone and she looks amazing for her age.
I am part of Gen Y? Star Wars Gen? Millennial? How my generation born in the early 1980's get's classified changes frequently depending on who is doing the classification.
I love reading your blog because it gets me to understand things from my parents viewpoint and helps me in building a stronger relationship with them.
So just wanted to say thank you for sharing your insights!
Wow. Happy birthday to B's mother. Lovely that you you included photos of the old family home as well.
Congratulations to your relative, she looks great for being 100, lots of women and men are meeting that age. My mil would have been 102 and my father in law would have been 106 but the passed away at 86 and 1/2 and 84 and 1/2 they both smoked and smoked my father in law drank and took drugs and had many women and affairs, he never was a dad to his many children 8 and my hubs was the oldest..He said he was not able to get a decent job ever and wandered and wandered, always returning to his wife my mil. She took him back and had another kid she had 8 with him one passed young and she also had another child from a marriage that lasted about 15 years, my husband was born in 1947 and his sister was 17 when he was born, he knew her very little..I say if you plan to be on this earth with 8 kids at least treat their Mother and kids decently..My hubs is the total opposite, we have one child and he adores her and me and would never not be a Knight in Shining Armour, he never wanted to do what was done to him and his siblings to anyone, he is the best of the whole damn lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved the photos; what a great-looking home with fabulous views and tremendous memories. Congrats to all for the successful party and the birthday girl for hitting the century mark. That is no small feat.
If only those walls could talk! The house, unless it went through some extensive renovations in the past, was actually quite large for that era. It appears to be very well maintained. And very charming. Thanks for these great pictures!
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