Grandma Z's 90th birthday

We had a nice family visit with Grandma Z for her 90th birthday. I can't believe she's 90! She's just as lovely as ever. Here we are with her. She's holding a plate of carrot cookies I made for her. I'll post the recipe so you can try them too. Don't be afraid of the idea of a carrot cookie. They're delicious AND healthy. I mean--heck! look at her!


Grandma still has a bit of spunk in her. She decided she's hated her name, Verle, all her life she she goes by Verla now. Yup. You go, Grandma! At least she didn't pick Kaitlynn or Brittney. That wouldn't befit a 90 year-old.


My early memories of Grandma Z were from when we would visit her in Utah or she would come to Washington. I remember once when they came, they went fishing with Aunt Hazel and Uncle John--it must have been to the coast--and they brought back these wickedly sharp shells. I was fascinated by them. And once Grandma brought a bunch of sand from the Great Salt Lake and my mom dried flowers in it.

Whenever we visited, either in Washington or in Utah, we always had KFC, only back then we weren't afraid of frying and actually called it Kentucy Fried Chicken. It was probably more of a Grandpa thing than a Grandma thing, but that's okay. Anyway, she always put makeup on me. Her bathroom was a woman's fantasy. It was all mirrored with excellent lighting, but mostly it was filled with sweet smelling perfumes and makeups... Oh man! Oh yeah, she had a fuzzy cover on the potty seat--so decadnet.

Grandma had this awesome coffie table that was round and spun. I think every kid learned to walk and then run, holding on to that table as it spun. Eventually it would go faster than their little legs could carry them and they would fall... Good times. I wonder where that table went when Grandma moved into Barton Creek (her assisted living center).

Grandma drank Tab and saved the pull tabs and made them into a necklace for me. That was such an honor. She also paid me 5 cents per crossword puzzle I cut out of the newspaper and sent her. That was back in the days when we didn't call long distance and got all family updates by letter. How archaic!

One year I made a cross stitch sampler of George and Martha Washington. My brother Mike tried to help but he kept sewing the George to his pants as he stitched. I guess it is a good thing sewing isn't a requirement for being an awesome lawyer nowadays. Anyway, she hung them by her kitchen phone, a source of great pride for a kid like me.

Oh--Grandma had a push-button phone WAY before we did. No, we had this silly rotary phone. Why can I remember 547-0412, our phone number in Washington, when I can't remember my phone number now? Grandma's phone was fun to play songs on.

Grandma gave me the gift of the love of reading. She always gave me books for my birthday--something I loved. She gave me my treasured copies of Little Women, Strawberry Girl and Girl of the Limberlost. And when I got older, she gave me my mom's copies of So Big (oh--my first romantic novel) and Gone with the Wind. Sigh... I still have them and can be persuaded to show them to you but I wont let you touch them.

Happy Birthday, Grandma! I love you!