Today, is my Granny's birthday. Nobody knows for sure how old she is...she changes the dates of things to keep us guessing. I'll tell you a bit about my Granny. Her name is Madge Veronica Mulhern McFadden. Her family calls her Maisie and her American friends call her Margie. She is amazing, strong, smart, brave, funny, and stubborn! Born and raised in County Donegal, Ireland. The last of her 8 siblings and the only one to leave Ireland. She married my grandfather, Charlie T, when she was 15 or 16 (this is where she changes dates/ages) and had her first of four children a year later.They were farmers and poor. They moved their family from Ireland to Scotland to Canada and then finally to America. My grandfather came over first as an indentured servant in the late 50's, leaving my Granny behind to move the rest of the family to Philadelphia, when he had saved enough for a house. Once they were settled in Granny went to nursing school and earned her R.N....she only went to school in Ireland until she was ten. Impressive, right? She worked as a nurse until she retired about 15 years ago. Then she volunteered!
As a little girl, I spent a lot of time with my Granny. We had many traditions, the two of us. My favorite, back to school shopping! A whole day of school dedicated to finding the perfect shoes, school bag, and lunch box! We did this every August.
Granny has 7 grandchildren and 8 great grand daughters, girls rule! When my oldest daughter was born she said, quite loudly, she has never loved someone as much as she loves Caroline! We remind her of it and she has never denied it! As babies, Caroline and Emma spent A LOT of time with my Granny we were sure they would speak with an Irish accent!
Granny is such a gift to our whole family. I feel especially blessed, having such a close relationship with her and having her be a part of my children's lives.
Happy Birthday Granny! I love you!
6 comments:
What a wonderful tribute to your Granny. You are so lucky to have her around to share in your and your girls' lives.
My maternal grandmother and I were very close and while she loved all 10 of her grandchildren dearly, there was always a special bond between her and I that sounds very much like the one you describe between your Granny and your oldest.
I hope you all enjoy celebrating her birthday.
How sweet! A very happy birthday to your Granny! You are so lucky to have her around to share with your girls. My mother's family is from Ireland too - she is doing lots of research on it right now, its wonderful to have these stories about where our familes came from.
What a touching story. You are very lucky to have your granny in your life the way you do. I hope your granny has a very blessed birthday.
This is very sweet. Your Granny sounds like an amazing woman, with such a rich history of experiences. Isn't it such a gift that you have her in your life!
Wow, your Granny is quite the inspiration. What a wonderful and lucky thing to have such a strong woman in your family. A very happy birthday to Granny!
she looks precious! happy birthday. how fun to keep you guessing/
Post a Comment