Birthdays and Anniversaries

Today would have been my grandfather's 104th birthday and tomorrow would have been his 78th wedding anniversary.

My grandpa lived a long and full life. He was a kind hearted and spirited man. He loved my grandmother dearly, every day of her life and beyond. He was a never ending source of witty and corny jokes. He gave me fruit on Halloween, underwear on Christmas, and dresses with matching gloves and bonnets for Easter. He loved Pecan Sandies and peach milkshakes from Hardees. He once remarked that he had been alive for every decade of the 20th century and I realized how much he had experienced.

I like trying to picture what life was like in 1909 on that fall day when my grandpa was born. My great-grandma, his mother, was born almost exactly 100 years before me. I wonder what thoughts were going through her head as she gazed at her new son at this time of night 104 years ago.