Happy Birthday!

This post is a dedicated Happy Birthday! message to my grandmother. Unfortunately it is late back home while I write this, but I didn't get a chance to log on last night and so could not right or call at a reasonable hour.

There are many things to be admired about my grandmother, but one thing that stands out is her strength. At 15 she escaped from Germany and fled to England with her sister and young cousins. At that age most of my friends were talking about our learner's permits to drive and staring to think about college, my grandmother was working and acting as the guardian for her family in a foreign land. She survived closer calls with larger rockets than I have during two trips to Iraq.

Seeking a new start after the War, she once again left what she knew and came to America. This was an excellent decision because it led to her meeting my grandfather, which led to my mother, which led to me. But I digress.

Despite all spending much of her youth working and raising her cousins and then coming to American where she raised her own family, from my earliest memories until now, I can never remember her asking for anything. Everytime she asks what we want, what she can do for us, what she can get us. Everything she has done is an embodiment of an inner strength, perseverance, and the value of family.

I continue to learn from her.