100!

Woke up this morning and realised it's June 26, 2007, my grandmother's 100th birthday!! If she were alive, that is. She died when I was 8 years old, but I'm lucky to have very fond memories of her. I don't think my brothers have many memories at all, Patrick may, but definitely not Bernhard, he was only one year old when she passed. While I didn't really have a chance to get to know her too well and while my memories are becoming increasingly hazy, she creeps into my mind from time to time. We recently uncovered some video footage that Dad took in 1984 and 1985 that includes a visit to Grandma's house. Very special, and when we aired it with my aunts, uncles and cousins watching last year, it was just sooo haunting. In a room full of people, you could have heard a pin drop. No one really remembered it existed and it was just amazing to hear and see Grandma, in top form, right before our eyes for the first time in 17 years or longer.

Mum recently found a present Grandma had given me on my 5th birthday. It was a beautiful little china mug, featuring a colour mural of two girls, in their vintage attire, playing a game in a field, the mug was gorgeously decorated in gold trimming and had obviously been used and loved as the trimming had worn thin over a part of the mug. Grandma had been given the mug as a child, which would be well over 100 years old by now. I don't know how she kept it all those years, as for a while she was living in undesirable conditions. I'm one of the youngest of her 32 grandchildren, so it's particularly special that she kept something aside to give to me. She was given it by her aunt, Johanna Elizabeth, Grandma's name was Elizabeth Johanah, I'm Laura Johanne Elizabeth, so she passed it along the lines of Johanna Elizabeths in the family. There was a note included with it that described the mug, where Grandma indicated that she hoped I'd have a Johanna Elizabeth to pass it on to... HA! Quite ironic to uncover that note at such a time in my life... Grandma's little words and wishes from beyond the grave. Happy birthday, Grandma!! We love you and miss you. xxx Laura

P.S. Here's a video I uploaded to YouTube, most likely the only footage that exists of Grandma and I. Kinda cute. :-)