90.

this is my grandma norma.

she is my dad's mom, born in minnesota in 1919.  she wanted to be a singer on broadway, but her mother wouldn't let her.  so she married my grandpa and became an english teacher.  she has four kids and nine grandchildren and she turned 90 this week.  except she has always counted her age differently than you are "supposed to," and so if you ask her she will say that she is 91 because she has entered her 91st year of life.  she loves birds and flowers and scrabble and she gets the new york times on sundays and it lasts her throughout the rest of the week.  she taught me things like how to file your nails and how to spell stationery (stationery, with an "e," is the paper you write letters on, while stationary, with an "a," is standing still.  she told me that you can remember this because letter and stationery both have "e"s in them.  and i still think of that every time i write the word).  her favorite story of me, which she tells me multiple times whenever i visit (or call) is from when i was little and she was living with us.  apparently i came into the kitchen where she was washing dishes and said "grandma, grandma, come quick!"  i took her out onto the porch and pointed to the moon and said "grandma, the moon is broken!"  when she tells this story she laughs and tells me how cute i was.

this weekend 15 of her family members sat around the dinner table with her to celebrate her birthday, coming from georgia, north carolina, new york, michigan, iowa, and california to connecticut to be with her (and with each other - boy do we like each other).  happy birthday, gram.  you've never used a computer and have no idea what a blog is.  so i won't try to explain it to you.  but happy birthday nonetheless.