Grandma gets rich.

Two weeks ago, we went to Wisconsin to spend the day celebrating my Grandma Rose's 93rd birthday with my mom's side of the family. I'll tell you more about the day tomorrow, but for today I'd like to focus on the fun we had with my Grandma on her special day.

At 93, it is not surprising that the lady of honor is pretty hard of hearing and not completely sure who we are. She is, however, still fun to be around. She is in good spirits, is adept at rolling with whatever is happening around her and has kept her sense of humor. We are finding that what thrills her these day are not too far off from what thrills a small child...glitter barrettes, hugs, smiles, back scratches, feather boas, balloons. It is rare for her to be the center of attention these days, so we enjoyed having her be the focus for part of the day.

My grandma is also at that point in her life where presents she gets are likely offered up as "junk" she doesn't need the next time you visit her. And, she will most likely urge you to take it with you. She isn't much for things to begin with and over the years, she has been trying to whittle down her possessions. These factors make it mighty hard to give her a gift she will appreciate. When my Uncle Bill gave her cash in her birthday card last year, she was pretty happy about it. So, my mom decided to run with that idea and encouraged everyone who came to the party to bring her a card with anywhere from $5 to $20 in it.

She was pretty happy when she sat down with her stack of cards and the first one she opened had money in it.

And, then the second card had money in it, too! "Oh my goodness!", she said.

"Oh, youse guys! You didn't have to give me anything.", said with her German accent.

"Well, for goodness sake!"

She opened each card, not assuming that the pattern would continue and each time, upon finding more money, she was as delighted as with the first card. "Well, I'll be darned!"

My Aunt Marion helped her identify the person who gave her the card if she needed help.

It is fun to take her picture because she doesn't care much at all about the camera being there and just continues being herself. I had planned to whittle the photos down to just a few, but she made so many fun expressions, I couldn't narrow it down.

She took time to read each card.

And, after all of her cards were opened, she leaned back and soaked it all in for a minute.

Then, she sat back up and declared, "I didn't know I was going to get rich today!"