The 96th Year

Today marks my great-grandma's 96th birthday which is crazy in itself. It's also the first year she's ever spent a birthday away from home so we all banded together to make it a lovely birthday for her by taking her out for the afternoon arriving with big bouquets of blooms, chocolates and cards that pop up and play a ukelele version of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'.

My grandma is a strong woman and inspires me continually. In her working years she ran many pubs in Cardiff and poured a stern drink akin to rocket fuel. She was beautiful and immaculately dressed while inviting the local donkey to sit in near the fire in the winter. She raised two children and watched them die before her many years later but always kept that charming sharp tongued wit and her heart on her sleeve. I remember days when my grandma and nan would have one too many sips of their brandy with a dash (only a dash) of Canada Dry and take to the piano to play and sing 'Please Release Me'. She's stubborn and she's still the head of our family. Five generations and she's our First Lady.

Here's to you, Gran. Ninety six and still a breath of fresh air in this world.