100 years

Grandma Coleman turned 100 years old on February 18th.  She met the day with a mixture of excitement and reluctance as she wondered "why she had to get so old." Because she lives at my mom's house we had the privilege of celebrating this amazing lady both on her birthday and also the following saturday at an open house.

I suppose we never really know the impact we have on the life of another;  I suspect the out pouring of visitors, cards, and letters were only a small indication of how many lives my Grandma has touched.  Particularly impressive to me was a letter she received from a man she had nannied when he was four.  He explained that he remembers her being in their home and that his positive interaction with her left him with a favorable opinion of the german people which he believed helped him when he was later called to be a mission president in Germany. 

Here are a few of the pictures we have from her birthday celebrations:

 Grandma with her Birthday cake as we celebrated at Mom and Dad's house.

 Grandma and her brother Otto.  He will be 93 this year.  It was snowing the day of Grandma's party.  When Otto woke up and saw the snow, he decided he couldn't go to the party.  He called Grandma and said he wasn't coming to which Grandma responded, "I'm not going if you're not going."
Obviously, they both made it to the party.  After calling Grandma, Otto called his daughter and told her the same thing - he wasn't going because it was snowing.  She replied that she had driven all the way from St. George to take him to the party and told him to get dressed because he was going to the party!

 My cousin Annette made these beautiful center pieces using pictures from Grandma's younger days.  This picture of Grandma and her sister Frieda has always been one of my favorites.

 This table is filled with handwork Grandma has done over the years - everything from table clothes to blankets and table mats.

 More hand work, and a collage of more recent pictures of Grandma with her grand kids and great grand kids.

 This table was filled with an assortment of delicious desserts,  many of them were German desserts I haven't had for years - YUM!

My wonderful family!  Allan, Emily, Marc, Mom, and Deborah.  Carolyn is behind Deborah, but didn't quite make the picture.  Bradley and Deborah attended the party in shifts because their kids were sick.
Allan was lucky enough to be sent to Utah for most of the month of February.  He was able to attend the first part of  Grandma's party before he had to leave.  We were lucky because we had him here for 3 weeks instead of just the weekend.

Grandma's party was a nice event and it was fun to catch up with family and friends.am grateful for the role she has played in my life and the example she is to me.