A Day of Celebration

Yesterday was a day of celebration and of remembrance. The celebration was for Matt's great-great aunt. She turned 100 and of course we all had to celebrate. The remembrance was of Matt's Grandmother who was the niece of the Birthday Girl. Grandma Shirley passed away on Leap Day this year.

Aunt Melba is a interesting lady. She has lived a fabulous life. Her husband was a "designer to the stars". He designed furniture for stars and movie sets. Melba and Ray created a fabulous collection of antiques and Chinese pottery. Walking into her condo after she moved north to Vancouver was like walking into a Chinese Museum. It was amazing. Now she lives rather independently in a retirement/care facility. She has her special companions, a couple of dogs that live with her in her apartment. The facility is beautiful and the staff takes wonderful care of their residents.

It is really inspiring to see someone who has lived a full 100 years and is still going strong as Melba is. For me it was a bit bittersweet as I could not help but see the contrast between Melba still going strong at 100 and my grandmother struggling at 95.

All in all, though there were some tears and a few moments of sad reflection, it was a beautiful day to celebrate 100 years of life.