Elsie's Birthday

Today would be Elsie's 100th birthday. We'd probably be having a party this weekend where she might get her own cake for the occasion... usually she and I would share a birthday cake since my birthday is this month too.

She was a great lady who led a full life. During my childhood, she travelled to Egypt, Israel, Hawaii, and Europe with friends. She made the best lemon meringue pie you've ever tasted. She sewed nearly every day of her adult life, and she could sew ANYTHING. When she made homemade egg noodles for Thanksgiving and Christmas, her entire kitchen and basement were filled with noodles drying on wax paper sheets. She made popcorn balls to pass out to trick-or-treaters. She watched "As the World Turns" every day after lunch, and she kept every letter I ever wrote to her.

There just aren't words to tell you all the things she did for me and how I miss her. So here are a few photos of Elsie and her great-grandchildren that really make me smile...

These are all the great-grandchildren at Christmas 1999. She made matching sweatshirts with Santa and his reindeer for all seven of them with her favorite (and only) toy... her Janome New Home embroidery machine.

My daughters (standing to the left and right of the rocking chair) now use that same machine when they sew. And I think that would make her smile...