*DISCLAIMER* For the record, Grandma's birthday was actually yesterday. I could have easily backdated this so that the post was on her actual date. However, for the few people that actually read my blog timely, they would know I cheated. I would have had this done yesterday but ended up falling asleep while putting it together. Yeah...I know...just pitiful....but anyway...
I don't believe I've ever posted this picture out here before. It was on The Book, but not here. Oh wait..I take that back. It was on the countdown last year so it made it the appearance on this blog. As a matter of fact, I purposely held out posting it out here so that it could make its debut on the countdown. And believe
me, that was difficult to do given as much as I like this pic of Grandma.
The last time I took a trip to Des Moines, I made sure to take a detour thru Kansas City. It wasn't because the flight was cheaper. Well let me take that back...it wasn't ONLY because the flight was cheaper. It was mainly because I purposely wanted to stop by and see Grandma before I flew out. Thought maybe I could get an updated pic of her while I was at it. Then that pic could have been used for this entry. There were a couple of problems with that plan though...
1. I called myself wanting to surprise Grandma with a visit. I just like the look on her face when she's surprised. However, by doing that, I would lessen the possibility of getting a picture. No way Grandma was going to take a pic when she wasn't ready for it. Which meant the element of surprise would not be an option. But that still didn't help the other issue
2. I would have to be at the airport around 11am or so to catch my flight. Which meant I would be getting to Grandmas early in the morning to get in some quality time. Grandma likes to have time to get ready for a pic. Was she going to be willing to do that so early in the morning? Uncle Johnny warned me ahead of time it probably wouldn't happen. I took his word for it and didn't even raise the issue.
So what it amounted to was Grandma knew in advance that I was coming. Wish I could have been there when she heard the news. It's all good though because she still seemed to have a glowing smile on her face when I showed up. Almost as if she was still surprised to see me. That was still worth it too.
As usual, the conversation was on point. Grandma busted out one of her old photo albums and was sharing anecdotes that I had never heard before. All you had to do was ask about one person in one picture and Grandma had a story that would have you enthralled better than any Spielberg/Lucas/Tarrantino flick. I never knew that her and Popoo had a run-in with some real-life Crips! And only Grandma can tell the story in such a way that it's actually funny. That was just one of several gems I picked up during that short visit. So it may have been an early birthday present for Grandma but I'm the one that came away with the gift.
