My Grandma would've been 75 today. In honor of her birthday, my family eats tacos for dinner since they were her favorite. I don't really care for tacos, but they're worth it on this day.
Another tradition I have is to paint my nails red. Red is her favorite color. The wearing of red is required on her birthday (as it also was at her funeral), so I always wear a red jacket that I inherited from her and I always paint my nails red with the very nail polish she bought me when I was 5. Surprisingly, it hasn't gotten gross yet (even after all these years)! It was my first one ever. She was in town taking care of us when my little brother, Alec, was born. We were getting ready to go to the hospital and I remember her saying to me, "Don't you want to look your best for your new baby brother?" So she took me to the store and she picked out red nail polish and painted my nails when I got home. See?
I still have that bottle and it's the one I use on her birthday.
Here are some favorite memories that I have of her:
-She loves to paint. Robbie took pictures of all her paintings we have in our house. You can see them
here. She painted pictures of all of us grandkids. Before she would paint them, she'd pray to not only capture their physical characteristics, but they're spirit as well. Here's the one she did of me:
-She loves the movie, "Gone with the Wind." I can't stand to watch that movie, but she always loved it.
-She used to love Fannie May chocolates. We would always get her a box when we'd go out to see her, but she couldn't have them after she became gluten intolerant because they roll the chocolates in flour.
-Robbie and I loved having her come to Disneyland with us because we would always get put at the front of the line since my grandma had to be in a wheelchair.
-Her favorite ride at Disneyland is "It's a Small World."
-She loves the beach. Probably more than anything in the whole world.
-She always drank Diet Pepsi. Always.
-She loves to play cards. And she's good. I always loved listening to her and Grandpa bicker when they played. She always accused him of cheating.
-She always wears "Red Door" perfume. I can spot that smell from a mile away. I love it. This sounds really cheesy, but I remember that my 1st grade art teacher used to wear it and sometimes I'd pretend that my grandma was standing next to me helping me with my art projects.
-I was in an art club in 4th grade and we did a unit on oceans. We all painted a watercolor of an ocean scene. I gave mine to my grandma and she loved it so much that she framed it and redecorated her entire bathroom using the colors from my painting. I had never felt so special in my whole life. That painting now proudly hangs in my bedroom.
-The way she and my grandpa love each other is so precious. They're love for each other is unconditional. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside when I think about it.
-I remember all of us grandkids singing "Family" from "James and the Giant Peach" at their 50th wedding anniversary. We had no idea we were going to be singing (at least I didn't), so that was a hot mess. Thankfully, I knew all the words to most of the Disney songs (and still do at the age of 20...how embarassing!), so I was able to sing the song no problem! Nobody knew what was going on though!
-My grandma is absolutely incredible. I've always wanted one of my children to have her name, "Roberta." I just have to figure out a good first name to go with it. :] She was always sick. She spent her entire life in constant pain and illness, yet she never showed it to anyone. She was always so chipper and happy. Always. You ask me to name a time when she was unhappy or upset and I seriously cannot name such a time. She is amazing.
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