100 Years Ago ...

I have the world's worst memory.

This became very apparent to me when I was on a search for a family photo we took at Crater Lake National Park.  I was very successful finding the photo.  In fact, I found not one, but TWO photos.  The problem is, that they were taken during different trips, and for the life of me, I can only remember one trip.  It's true!  I forget entire events.  I also put important items/papers in special places so I can easily retrieve them only to forget where the special places are.

This memory problem of mine is additionally magnified because I happen to live and work with some of the most memory-secure people alive.  My dear friend Kathy can remember not only names of preschoolers we had 25 years ago, but also what they were wearing the first day of school!  My husband remembers where things are buried in "The Pit" aka the garage that is heaped and layered with gadgets, cords, various liquids of every color and viscousness, as well as other junk valuables.  If I need something from The Pit, he finds it, even if we haven't seen it in ages.

The good news is I have never forgotten any of my children at the park like my own mother did to me when I was a newborn.  Obviously she came back for me, but who is to say that I wasn't swapped for her REAL baby?  We have always wondered why I am the only brunette in the family .......

All this to say that today would have been my Gramma's 100th birthday.  What does this have to do with my  embarrassingly awful memory?  Well, I am happy to report that some of my most enduring and endearing memories are of her and her house in Santa Ana, California.  They are vivid and sure in my mind.

• I remember her orange tree in the back yard - my first taste of fresh squeezed OJ came from that tree.
• I remember the softball size roses that smelled like roses and not like nothing-ness.
• I remember her story about the bank robbers that hopped her backyard wall and ran through her lot and how I was stunned and horrified at the prospect that "bad guys" had set foot on her property!
• I remember accidently locking myself in her bathroom (with the claw foot tub) and being rescued through the window.  
• I remember how she used 2 spoons to make each little dumpling one at a time that floated around in our yummy beef soup.
• I remember dumplings, cheese, bacon, cheese and cheese that when mixed together became a family favorite batch of Halushsky.
• I remember "Come Lord Jesus" being prayed in Slovak before every meal and her reminders to never take the last of anything ...."Leave a little for someone else."
• I remember how she spoke about her loved ones with much adoration and pride - always.
• and I remember every visit ending in a "smooch".

Milujem ťa, babička ~

...and Happy Birthday Gramma ....