I am thankful for my grandmother.
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| My grandmother and some of her grandkids. There were 6 more born after this. |
Today is my paternal grandmother's birthday. Yvette would have been 116 years old. She was born in 1903 in rural West Virginia and got married 20 years later. After a couple of years, she and my grandfather settled on a farm that is still in the family today.
She grew the food, churned the butter, and kept the books on the things they sold as well as the weather. But the most important thing she did was to raise 8 kids. And it was not easy. After a childhood accident, my Aunt Ellen was disabled for the rest of her life and bedridden for many years of it. Also, my grandmother lost another child soon after his first birthday.
However, one of the hardest parts of Yvette's life were the difficulties that my grandfather had after several unfortunate things happened to him. He used alcohol to deal with his pain and it was not good. Because of this, there was every reason for my father and his siblings to grow into dysfunctional adults, but they didn't. They were good parents and spouses, worked hard, and contributed to their communities. And that is because of my grandmother. Her calm steadiness was able to give them the stability they needed to rise above the problems in the family.
So for my grandmother, who was able to raise her children into responsible, happy adults, I am very thankful. Happy Birthday, Grandma Yvette.
