Grossmamme's 100th Birthday

It wasn't only my 100th blip birthday this week but also my grandmother's 100th Birthday.

I'm a bit annoyed, I wrote about this yesterday but missed the publish button and now I've got to write it all again...entirely my fault but still annoyed.

In the morning the family started to gather for the celebration in her home and together with the Mayor and Minister we were all able to wish her a happy birthday drinking a bit of sparkling wine in her honour. We sang one of her favourite hymns and the sheets were duly collected and kept for the funeral which might follow in the not too distant future. We were all amazed at how well she kept and how much she was able to take in. Lunchtime was "only" amongst all her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Grossmamme got a rest and we joined her again for coffee and cakes (Kaffee und Kuchen) later in the afternoon.

The celebration was held in the village where I grew up from 2-12, everything looks so much smaller. There was time to visit my sister's grave, to show L my favourite music box and to catch up with cousins, aunts and uncles.

She's an amazing woman, a photographer by trade who stopped her 20 a day cigarette habit in her first pregnancy from one day to the other with the firm decision not to start again until she was 50 and so fifty years ago on this day she started again and only stopped when she was 85 or so and only really because her favourite brand of cigarettes were no longer sold in Switzerland.

As much as we enjoyed being together as a family we also thought about those missing, her youngest daughter (my father's first wife), my cousin's husband who died of an aneurism late last year not even 50 and my uncle who had passed away unexpectedly on a recent holiday to South Africa.

An amazing group of people we were, ranging in ages from 80 to 1, the oldest daughter over 80, the oldest grandson 51 and the oldest great-granddaughter 29.