In my family, we’re lucky enough to have what we would call the “old age” gene. I can only hope that I get the privilege of continuing the tradition.

You see, my great, great grandma (above circa 1970), Flora Henshue made it to 80 + years old, and so did my great grandfather Stanley (Flora’s son) and his wife, my great-grandma, Hattie Henshue.

Great Grandpa, Stanley Henshue, my dad and my uncle – circa 1957.

So, why this walk down memory lane? Well, because today, my Grandma (Stanley and Hattie’s Daughter) turns the big Eight-Zero (80).

My Grandmother at 20, My Grandfather holding my dad (1 month old), circa October 1950.

I can’t be there to wish my Grandma a happy birthday in person, so I’m sending a bunch of Roses, and very much love her way.

Humor me, please, and let me tell you a little bit about this amazing woman. Starting in the 1960’s, (and with 3 sons still at home) my grandmother was an assistant librarian at Marshall Jr High school. (Prior Jobs, she’ll proudly tell you, were working “sexing” baby chickens and as a secretary.) She retired from the Jr High in order to take care of my grandfather (who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease) for many years, until he went into a nursing home.

My grandmother is affectionately nick-named the family “social” butterfly. At 80 years old, she is more active than many women half her age. She goes to swim-aerobics twice a week at the YMCA, plays cards with her friends every week (hosted at a different person’s house), and is an avid baker, ceramics painter, and quilter (she even participates in a quilter’s group). She still lives at home (which she continues to aptly clean herself), and still drives her own car (offering to take her friends to the doctor’s in Madison – an hour away from where she lives) among other things. She helps to organize events at her church (visiting shut-ins, helping as an usher, cooking for bake sales, feeding the local needy, etc), and at the nursing home across the street from where she lives. She has a big collie dog to keep her “active” and even still finds time to take bus trips to “get out of town” for anywhere from a day to two weeks. (This month, she’s packing her bags to travel the 1000 miles down to Georgia to visit my dad – and will be there for a week.) In addition, she has traveled and seen a bit of the world (Unfortunately, after my grandfather passed on) including Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland, as well as Canada and almost all of the 50 states in the USA.

Sometimes just hearing about all she does, and all the people she’s going here and there and everywhere with makes me exhausted – for her and myself. I always said if I could grow up and be half as active and have even a few friends like she does, I would be blessed many times over. I guess – I’m lucky to have such a “modern” woman as my 80 year old grandma to look up to. But then, if genes have anything to do with it, at 80, she could still be around for another 20 years – and not bat an eye. I certainly hope she is – because she is one of the many lights in my life.

A few great things I’ve learned from My Grandmother:

a) Do it while you can, and enjoy it. If you leave it until later, (whatever it is) someday, you may find you’re not able to do it anymore. (Knowing she lost my grandfather to Parkinson’s – in many ways – before they got to do all the things they planned to with their retirement – I think I really have taken this advice to heart.)
b) Sometimes the body has good days, sometimes the body has bad days. Listen to your Body and know when you should push yourself and when you should rest. My grandma goes constantly, but she also knows how to say “no”. I’m sure it’s taken her years to learn this – and it’s something that I still have trouble with, though I think I’m getting better.
c) Old age doesn’t mean you should sit in a rocker and stop living. When you stop moving, you stop using your mind, and stop TRYING to make a difference – then you grow old, you give up, and you die. So, don’t be like some of the older members of our family who decided at retirement that they’d had enough, pulled up their rocker and remote and just quit living. She’s proof that even small differences can make someone’s day. Oh – also, don’t be like those who worked themselves every day with no vacation – until the day they passed – because they didn’t take the time to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
d) Bad times come. It’s inevitable, and it’s Okay. But, it will all work out in the end. So, don’t give up – even when we make mistakes. Ride through them, learn, help others who will wind up in the same “rut” when you can, and rejoice that you have the bad times – because – if it weren’t for bad times, we wouldn’t recognize the good ones.
e) Finally, and most important – You’re NEVER too Old to Travel, to Learn, To Create, To Make New Friends, To Smile, To Laugh, or To Love.

So, Here’s to my Grandma, who turns 80 Years Young today –

Happy Birthday, Grandma – We Love You!

My Grandma and family, at her 78th Birthday Party – December 2006