Death in the Family

Susan's first day of school this year started with a phone call bearing sad news: her grandma Laura had died the night before.  (That's why Susan wore to school that day a necklace that Laura had rosemaled--remember seeing it in the photo a couple days ago?)  Just last November, Laura's husband (Susan's grandpa) passed away (remember?), and Laura's health declined steadily in the months thereafter.  Laura moved from a nursing home in town to one in Richardton, ND, where she lived her last few weeks with good care and individual attention.  Susan and the girls stopped there to visit with her about a week ago, and Susan's dad Roger and a couple of his sisters spent most of their time with her in her final days.  She died peacefully Tuesday night, and her funeral was today.

Laura's 90th Birthday

Faithful Reader, surely you recollect my having mentioned the other day that we would be at the nursing home last night to celebrate the upcoming 90th birthday of Susan's grandma Laura. There's a large "social room" across the hall from Laura's room that we use when members of the extended family want to celebrate a birthday with Laura or Elmer (Susan's grandpa) or just gather when Susan's aunt Candy is in town from AZ. So we enjoyed pizza and soda followed by cake and ice cream . . . and, of course, visiting throughout the evening. Here are some highlights:

The birthday song!

Laura and Elmer had 10 children, 3 of whom have passed away (Bruce, Bonnie, and Ginger). Of the 7 remaining, 5 were at the party (from left to right in the back row): Candy, Judy, Roger (Susan's dad), Patty, and Jackie.

Laura and Elmer have 29 grandchildren, 2 of whom were at the party: Kathy (Patty and Buddy's daughter) and Susan (Roger and Sue's daughter).

According to Susan's not-quite-certain calculations, Laura and Elmer have 56 great-grandchildren (and 5 great-great-grandchildren), 3 of whom were at the party: Hillary, Suzanna, and Abigail.

A nice closeup of the birthday girl. Happy 90th birthday on June 12th, Laura!