95 Years

Today is my paternal grandmother's 95th birthday. She is my only remaining grandparent, so I really treasure her and feel sad that I can only see her once a year or so when I go to Brazil.
She is still fairly healthy and completely lucid. Unfortunately, two years ago she broke her femur and she's been bed-ridden ever since, which is a trial for her and the daughter who lives with and cares for her. She spends her time knitting and watching TV, especially the news. She's been knitting booties for many many years (see last photo below), but a couple of years ago I put in a request for scarves and now, in addition to several bags full of booties of all sizes and colors, I also have many beautiful scarves (I'll post some photos another day).

My grandmother, whose name is Olivia Diva, was born in the South of Brazil (in the state of Paraná), the daughter of German and Polish immigrants. At 15 she married my grandfather, also of German descent. Last year I was asking her why they married so young back then, and she replied that when my grandfather started going to her house on Sunday nights to talk to her, her father said right away that they would need to marry soon, because he had no money for kerosene (used for lighting) for him to visit every weekend.

They had 9 children, but the oldest one, a girl, died still in infancy. Grandma says that they were too young and inexperienced and didn't know how to care for a baby. Of their eight remaining children, the first four were boys (my father is the second) and then four girls came. Three of my aunts live on the same city where grandma lives in Southern Brazil, three sons are in Brazil, and the third son and the youngest daughter have lived here in the U.S. for many years. She has are 12 grandchildren (I'm the third oldest) and now five great-grandchildren, with a sixth on the way for later this year.

In the late 1940s when my father was a boy (of eight or nine, I think) and six of his seven siblings, had already been born, the family sold their land (they had a small farm and a water powered corn flour mill where my dad worked) and moved to the Northern part of the state of Paraná. That region was then a thick forest that was being opened for settlers and for the planting of coffee. Now it is fully deforested and rich in agriculture (I grew up in that region in the 1980s, but that's a story for another day). My grandpa opened a general store and was very successful. My dad (the one squatting at the front on the photo below) lived there with them, working at the store, until he was 21 when he left to pursue his education (he had stopped his schooling in 4th grade).

I don't know who that boy on the left is, but from left to right you can see my Grandpa, my youngest aunt, Grandma, my oldest aunt and the next to last daughter, the one who lives with Grandma now. My dad is at the front. I'm guessing this photo was taken around the time that he left home, or shortly thereafter, in the late 1950s 0r early 1960s.

I still remember the store and their house in that small town, although I was quite young (six) when they sold it and my grandparents moved to the state capital (Curitiba). In the following photo, I was three and my brother was not one yet.
And here is Grandma with my son, who is wearing one of the booties she made for him (she makes them for adults too):
I hope I can see her again next time I go to Brazil, but one never knows. My maternal grandmother died seven months after I moved to the U.S., days before turning 94. I feel blessed just to still have Grandma (Vovó) Olivia, and to have had a grandmother in my life for so long. I hope my sons remember her, or at least cherish the photos that they took together and the few moments they shared. The links between the young and the old are so beautiful to behold!