So many of you have sent such good thoughts and wishes concerning my mother that I thought you would like to know that she is up and celebrating her 90th birthday.
This is her with her cake and first ever wrist corsage. We threw a party for her at the church’s fellowship hall and so many of her family, friends, neighbors, church members and acquaintances stopped in that we have determined she must certainly be well loved.
And once or twice she even forgot about having a walker and took off without it – both excting and scary.
She enjoyed herself and that made the days of working on the event – dragging new clothes to her house for her to try on there, ordering flowers and linens and food, sorting through photos for the memory table, agreeing and disagreeing with other family members over the details, working on invitations, making phone calls, cleaning and boxing and taking pictures – all worth the effort.
This happened yesterday on Groundhog Day, which is her actual birthday. And for as long as I can remember she has been the recipient of every possible joke concerning the furry creature’s prediction for spring.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Groundhog Day tradition, let me enlighten you. On February 2, groundhogs around America crawl out of their burrows – how they know that it is February 2 is beyond me – and if they see their shadows, they will retreat back into their little nests to rest for six more weeks of winter. If they do not see their shadow, then it will be an early spring and they will stay out to play.
This goes back to the ancient European traditions around Candlemas and the importance of marking the mid point of winter. Believe it or not, the stately groundhog even has his own website which has some old rhymes there, such as:
According to an old English song:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.
According to an old Scotch couplet:
If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, There’ll be twa (two) winters in the year.
Another variation of the Scottish rhyme:
If Candlemas day be dry and fair,
The half o’ winter to come and mair,
If Candlemas day be wet and foul,
The half of winter’s gone at Yule
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Happy Birthday to your beautiful Mom. I’m so glad she is doing well.
Thanks Elyse. Me too!
Glad your Mom is up and about and celebrating her 90th birthday!!
Thank you Kathy. I know you understand the journey we’ve been on. It was nice to have something to celebrate.
Myyyy, she is beautiful. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mom. X
Thank you. I’ll pass that along to her.
Happy Birthday to your lovely Mom,Renee!
She looks like she is glowing in her picture and doesn’t have a care in the world. It has to be great for you to see her like this.
It truly is. She had a good day.
Your mom is so pretty and it looks like she really enjoyed her birthday ( and cake)! The rhymes about Groundhog Day are so interesting… 🙂
It is fun to trace the way our holidays and traditions adopted others and made them their own, isn’t it?
Happy Birthday to your mom. She looks so well. Great! God Bless.
Thanks Carole!
Your mother is a stunning 90 year old! Happy birthday!
She has always looked young for her age. Perhaps this was due to having children late in life. I’ll happily take the credit and the genes.
Thanks for sharing your mom’s 90th with us. 🙂 She looks great! I’m so glad she was up to a celebration. Please wish her a happy belated birthday for me.
I’m going to give everyone a few days to leave comments and then I’m going to print this off for her. She doesn’t ‘do’ computers. She doesn’t even ‘do’ vcr’s.
Happy Birthday to your beautiful mother! Such a wonderful picture. Bravo to you and family for putting on such a memorable party for her. I’m sure she’ll be enjoying pictures flow in and will be smiling for weeks to come.
Thank you Georgette!
Your mum looks shining and in good shape for a 90yo. You must be a happy family. And fancy wearing her first ever corsage – THAT is special.
A beautiful post to share. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA! 🙂
First ever ‘wrist’ corsage. She’s always had the kind that has to be pinned on the clothes, but I bought this new outfit for her and it is a knit so I didn’t want to ‘pick’ the fabric. Bless her heart, she banged that wrist corsage over everything and everybody. It definitely looked worn out by the end of the evening.
Happy Birthday to your mom, and congratulations on seeing her through to this celebration after her / your scary December! I’m so glad you are able to celebrate with her, and to see her enjoy this time with so many family and friends! Blessings to all of you! ~ Sheila
Having come through so much, it did make it more special for her I believe. Thank you Sheila.
Happy birthday to your Mom. Sounds like the party was a hit!
Indeed it was. Thank you for your kind wishes.
Happy Birthday greetings to your Mum. I love the photo. Your Mum looks so elegant with the wrist corsage.
You must be exhausted after all the organizing and planning, but now that it was so successful (congratulations) I hope you’ll give yourself a little break now.
I wish! A break would be divine. But it’s tax season. Alas….
happy birthday to your mom! Lovely post, and wonderful, radiant photo.
Thank you Susan. I’ll share your good wishes with her.
Happy birthday to your beautiful Mom, Renee! She is just glowing in that picture.
She did have fun Darla. I can’t wait to show her all of the birthday wishes coming to her from all over the world.
Happy birthday to a wonderful lady! She looks so young and vibrant!
You couldn’t have said anything that would make her any happier than ‘young and vibrant’! Thank you. I’ll pass it along.
Your Mom looks amazing, Renee. I hope she had a wonderful birthday, and that she comes out to see many more winters and springs.
She’ll be pleased to hear that! From your lips to God’s ears.
You’re Mom is amazing. What a lovely and classy lady she is. Look at her smile, it warms my heart. I’m so thankful she’s doing so well. Thanks for sharing her celebration of life. You’re both true treasures. 🙂
What a nice comment. Thank you.
The Birthday girl looks lovely & what a blessing to be able to celebrate such a grand occasion. I say let the party continue all year!
Sounds like a plan. Thanks!
I’m so glad your Mother’s doing better and was able to celebrate her birthday. 90 is a milestone! I’m sure her party took a lot of planning.
(As you know, Feb. 2 is my anniversary; it’s a very important date!)
The most important to be sure – at least in our family.
Happy Birthday to your lovely mum!
I’ll pass that along. Thanks.
What a beautiful photograph of your Mother celebrating her 90th Birthday in her lovely new outfit.
Thank you. I think she felt pretty too.
Hi thanks for liking my last post, How to cut vanilla beans, the smart way! Your mom is AMAZING! Congratulations and I wish you guys many more b-days to come!
Thank you. I am coming back to your blog. It looks really interesting and I think you have a lot of tips that we can all use. Thanks for the good wishes for my mother.
Thnx!!
Wow! Your mom looks great. One would never guess all the cliffs she and her family have faced in recent months. Thanks for sharing this celebration with us!
It has been crazy. But maybe that is what made it so special having something good finally to celebrate.
Renee, I’m so glad your mother’s doing so much better. She looks great! Much to celebrate, indeed.
Thanks Monica.
Your Mama looks gorgeous! Hard to believe she’s 90! I’m so glad she’s doing so much better. It looks and sounds like a marvelous celebration of this lovely woman!
Thanks Linda. I hope I’ve gotten the longevity gene.
She does look like she was delighted and having a great time.
My mom (and her brother) was born on April1 – so she too heard all those silly comments her whole life on her birthday
Thanks for the groundhog phrases – hadn’t seen those before
She did have a good time. I’m glad you liked the groundhog phrases and I can sympathize with your mom’s dilemma. It’s hard to be born on an odd holiday.
Wow! Your mom doesn’t look a day over 70!
Yes, I appreciate that and know that she will as well.
Great news that your mom is up and around …. especially to celebrate a milestone! … .Meanwhile, Hi Renee!
We are pleased indeed. And ‘hello’ right back at ya Frank.
Wishing your mother of the love, joy and great health on her Birthday and every day. Beautiful smile! Groundhog day is new to me and it’s amazing how mother nature predicts dates and time.
…and coincides with other ‘holy’ or ‘high’ days for those who preceded us. Thanks for the good wishes!