Grandma’s 100th Birthday

January 16, 2023 /
Grandma and Aunt Flo, January 2016

This is my Grandma Ward, on the left, and her sister, my Great Aunt Flo, on the right. Had she lived, today would have been Grandma’s 100th birthday. I wrote about her here when she died. She had a long life, full of adventures (as she put it), travel, and a lot of loss. She outlived both of her husbands and all four of her children. She and my Aunt Flo were best friends, born 16 months apart. They lived together for the last almost 30 years of Grandma’s life…and for at least the last 15, Aunt Flo was Grandma’s caretaker, as Grandma’s health was not great, and Aunt Flo was much better off in that regard. Both of their memories were pretty horrible, however, and I remember being pretty worried about Aunt Flo being in charge of Grandma’s medication.

Grandma at 18, a couple of weeks before eloping with my Grandfather.

Grandma’s favorite restaurant was Red Lobster, and we would often go there to celebrate both her birthday and Aunt Flo’s. The picture at the top of the post is the last time we we were there, January of 2016, celebrating her 93rd birthday. She died that November.

We don’t have a Red Lobster terribly close to us, so I am going to make a copycat dinner tonight to celebrate. Grandma would always order the shrimp scampi (and so would Aunt Flo…oddly enough, after Grandma died, Aunt Flo started ordering the deep fried shrimp instead…why did she never order that when she was with Grandma? Would Grandma have criticized her later at home for eating fried food? I don’t THINK so, but they were both horribly obsessed with their weight, so maybe) and a salad with blue cheese dressing. They both loved the Cheddar Bay biscuits. So I am going to make this copycat shrimp recipe, a salad with Roquefort dressing (Roquefort instead of just blue cheese, because I think Ted can eat it if it is sheep milk), and the Cheddar Bay biscuits (I will buy the box mix…my Grandma was not the best cook, and loved a good shortcut). As I am observing Dry January, I will use broth instead of wine in the recipe, or else I will buy one of those little half bottles, I’m not sure yet. In honor of Aunt Flo, I think I will also make some fried shrimp (also, Maya would prefer that).

My mom (on the left) and my Grandma in 1955. Mom is 13, Grandma is 32. I love this picture.

After Grandma died, Aunt Flo continued to live in Grandma’s house for the next 5 years. She then moved into an assisted care facility. Amazing that she lived on her own until age 95, though I sometimes saw that while delivering Meals on Wheels…there was one woman who lived alone until she was 100! She is still living there, doing reasonably well (has had 2 falls, and 2 hip replacements, her memory is HORRIBLE, but otherwise she is pretty darned healthy). I will call her today, and I plan to go see her on Friday. I’ll bring pizza.

26 Comments

  • Margaret

    January 16, 2023 at 9:54 am

    What beautiful women they were! I love the stories of their lives together. Outliving one’s children and spouses would be painful. That’s wonderful that you’re going to re-create her favorite meal. In that last photo, who is who? I’m embarrassed to even ask that question but they look about the same age.

    • J

      January 16, 2023 at 10:58 am

      Margaret, my husband was saying the same thing, that my mom sure didn’t LOOK 13. I will update the caption…mom is on the left.

  • Veronica Deschambault

    January 16, 2023 at 10:35 am

    My mom would have turned 100 years old earlier this month. It’s hard to wrap my brain around that and all the implications. I can’t imagine outliving my husband and my children, that must have been a heavy grief to bear. I imagine it would feel surreal as well. I love that you had such a special relationship with your grandmother and Aunt Flo. My grandchildren are 6, 5, and almost 4 now, and we spend so much time together and have a close relationship. I hope that if I’m still living when they’re adults, we’ll still have that.

    • J

      January 16, 2023 at 11:03 am

      Thanks so much V-Grrrl! I know you lost your parents long ago, and also that it still hurts. It was very difficult on my Grandma, losing all four of her children. The first was an infant, then my Aunt died in her early 40s, and my mom and uncle died in their 60s. All far too young.

      I suspect you will have a wonderful relationship with your grandchildren, as you already do. I hope you live a good long life and have a wonderful adult relationship with them.

  • San

    January 16, 2023 at 2:32 pm

    Lovely reminiscing about people’s lives. They’ll live on in stories and fond memories. Thanks for sharing about your Grandma and Aunt Flo, they both look like lovely ladies 🙂 I love that you’ll be celebrating by making a copycat Red Lobster dinner! And that you’ll bring pizza to Aunt Flo’s “roommate” at the assisted living facility… you’re so kind! I am sure that will make her day!

  • nance

    January 17, 2023 at 6:29 am

    What fantastic photographs. You come from some good women, J.

    I love that you’re celebrating and commemorating them with your dinner menu. Enjoy the day, the meal, and your rich memories.

  • Lisa of Lisa's Yarns

    January 17, 2023 at 11:20 am

    Such beauties! I love that they were such good friends – that is not a given between siblings!

    My grandma will turn 100 in May. She told us last summer that she does not aspire to be 100… she is very blunt/to the point. Ha. She’s outlived her husband by about 13 years now and all of her siblings have passed as has one of her daughters. She lost her best friend a couple of years ago so I know she is very very lonely. She’s in excellent health but has horrible macular degeneration so is practically blind. So she can’t do many of the activities she used to enjoy, like crocheting, crosswords, etc. She can use a magnifying glass to enlarge things but I think it’s so frustrating that she’s given up things like crosswords. She does still do wordle, though, and sends emails. She is a HUGE Vikings fan so I know she was very sad yesterday when they lost.

    So we always thought that my grandma LOVED Red Lobster, too. That is a place they’d often go to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Then after my grandfather passed, she admitted that she didn’t like it but didn’t say that since she knew my grandfather loved the food there. They had this remarkable marriage! I never saw them exchange a cross word – and I spent a lot of time around them! They did tons of road trips in their motor home and would memorize poetry together! At the end of every meal, my grandpa would say “that was so delicious, Janet. Thank you” which complete sincerity! And they were married for 63 years! Pretty amazing!

    I love that you are doing something special to honor her memory. How lucky we are to have amazing grandparents to mourn!

  • Patricia Spielman

    January 20, 2023 at 11:58 am

    Thanks so much for sharing. I loved hearing more about my Aunt Ginny & Aunt Florence. Hope you have a delightful visit with Aunt Florence.

  • Jenny

    January 21, 2023 at 7:31 am

    This is such a sweet post. I love that you are making their favorite foods to celebrate. How did it all turn out? I can’t believe Aunt Joy is only 13 in that picture. They look like sister, so gorgeous and young looking. I miss them all terribly. I’ll be coming in April for Flo’s 99th, hope to see you then. ?

    • J

      January 21, 2023 at 9:33 am

      Hey Jenny, I plan to go for her birthday, yes! I agree, esp because of my mom’s curvy figure and Grandma’s flat chest, and the fact that they were so close in age, they look like they could be sisters.

      The meal was lovely. 🙂

  • Patricia Spielman

    January 21, 2023 at 11:54 am

    So happy to hear you had a good visit with Aunt Florence & good also to hear she thought of Melodie & I.

  • Stephany

    January 21, 2023 at 12:29 pm

    What a beautiful tribute to two important ladies in your life. I love that your aunt and grandma had such a close bond and were best friends. Sibling relationships can be so complicated, but it seems like they had a good relationship!

    I hope the Red Lobster copycat meal turned out wonderful!