She shares her birthday year with one of her favorite celebrities - Bob Barker. He was the long-time host of Price is Right until his retirement a few years ago. Like Nana, he is still going strong.
Getting to be 91 would be an accomplishment for anyone but after the difficult life Nana experienced, it's even more cause for celebration. A childhood of extreme poverty with a drunken father and bed-ridden mother led to her adult life, where she worked too hard - at home and at her factory job. Despite all her struggles, she managed to raise four pretty decent kids. Not an alcoholic or drug addict among us. That's a testimony to Nana's discipline and devotion to her family.
"I'm lucky I survived." Nana said when I complimented her on her longevity.
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"When I was just a little girl, I remember seeing Daddy head outside with a small bundle - a baby Mom miscarried."
"Did he bury it?" I asked. She'd never mentioned this to me before.
"No, he threw it down the hole in the old out house."
I shudder at the image of that treatment for a poor baby who never made it to it's first breath. But in the 1920's, especially for families as poor as Nana's, babies were born - and died - at home.
Today, Nana's life is filled with her family, game shows, and keeping up with the daily news. She has a zest for life that many half her age don't possess. The fact that she still lives independently, even drives a little, is something many seniors would envy.
I celebrate having Nana in my life, not just on her birthday, but every day.
September 2014
