Dear Grandma Fife,
Happy Birthday! I apologize for not being there to share your special day with you. Seems we haven't seen very much of each other these last few years. My little family and I are still living far away on an island in the British West Indies called Grand Cayman. But my husband Chris and daughter Ayla wish you a very happy birthday also. Ayla shares the same birthday month as you and my Dad. She just celebrated her very first birthday this February and is a big One year old girl now. Do you remember meeting Ayla this summer? I got a cute picture of the three of us at the Fife Family Reunion.
February seems like it is a pretty awesome month to be born. I remember as a young girl how you had this fancy calender made of fabric where you kept track of every birthday, for all your children and grandchildren. I think then you had something like 30+ grandchildren. Such a grand family you have, so many grandchildren, and now so many great grand children. How many are there now? Amazing how your posterity has grown. You should feel so proud.
There are so many wonderful memories I have of spending time in my youth with you at your lovely home in Nampa, Idaho. In fact that is the only home I have any memory of you having during my adolescent life. I loved swinging on that big tire swing in your backyard. That tree was amazing, it provided shade for your entire backyard. That same tree also held a big bench swing but we couldn't swing as high or as fast on it as we could on the tire swing. Oh and you always had the most wonderful garden. I loved picking the fresh raspberries and strawberries. I remember there were several plentiful fruit trees along the canal side of your yard and you had to put weird nets on them to keep the birds out some years. I also remember that lavish grape vine you had. I thought your house was always so cool because of all the wonderful home grown fruits and veggies you grew. I remember you always keeping a very healthy diet eating lots of fresh produce from your garden. That is probably one of the reasons why you have lived so long. Whenever you would make cookies you would always substitute applesauce for butter and you were always making all these "healthy" versions of sweets. There was never junk food at your house. If we wanted a treat at your house we usually got graham crackers. I really like that about you. And I still love graham crackers. In fact I just introduced graham crackers to Ayla a couple weeks ago, she loves them.
I remember going for long walks with Grandpa along the dirt rode following the canal. That man could walk forever. I remember how much you both loved that White German Shepherd we gave you. I believe you named him Varson. Grandpa would take him on long walks everyday. He was such a good dog.
Oh and how my siblings and I loved to ride the riding lawn mower with Grandpa. We thought it was so cool! I remember how excited I was to drive it all by myself when I got old enough. He would bring it out and take us for rides or let us drive it even when the grass didn't need any cutting, just for the pure fun of it.
I remember how you loved for me to play the piano for you at your house. You always had such a true appreciation for good music, and a lovely singing voice. I remember how you kept pictures of all your grandchildren on top of the piano and I always loved looking at all my cousins as most of them were quite older than me. Oh and the record player. I remember your record player and all the many records you had. It was so fun to put the record on and watch it spin round and round while it played a melody we could all dance too.
I remember how much I loved to play with your paper dolls. That was the first thing Shannon and I always wanted to do when we came to your house. We loved dressing them up in all their different outfits together.
There are many special events in my life where you were there, my baptism, my high school graduation, my wedding, several of my many dance performances, Christmas's and other various holiday celebrations, and I am so thankful for all these special memories we have created together.
Dear lovely Grandmother, even though we are both older now and we don't see each other as often as we would like nor as often as we used to, I hope you know how much I treasure all the fond memories I have of you. I admire and look up to the strong woman you are, and have always been. You have been an outstanding example to me of a cherished daughter of God who always puts the Lord first in her life. Someone who believes in the importance of eternal families and stands up for what she believes in. I am so grateful to you for being that strong example to me.
I love you with all my heart! I hope you have a most blessed birthday and know that I am thinking most fondly of you.
Love Your Granddaughter,
Aubrey
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