100th Birthday for Evelyn

We went "back home" to Tucson in December, always a good decision.  This time it was to celebrate my grandmother's 100th birthday and 23 relatives were flying in from all over to assist us with the festivities!  It's not often you get to celebrate this amazing milestone.

Unfortunately for us, she broke her ball socket and cracked her pelvis 10 days prior to the big day.  And they won't do hip replacements on 99 year olds.  So, sadly, she will now be bedridden for the most part.  Coordination of care took up a big part of our time last week and after much drama we finally got her settled into her new facility after hospital and rehab had a try at her.

Tucson in December is magical.  It's warm and blue skies and chilly nights, just cool enough to light up the gas fireplace.  It's day temps near 70.  It's all the Sonoran favorites to eat, including green corn tamales and Nico's chorizo burritos for breakfast.  It's holly berry Eegee's flavor (like an Italian ice) and lovely walks in the desert landscape.

Birds love it, reptiles are too cold to be out, and we had a wonderful time being serenaded by my talented cousin Barry Riese of the Piper Road Spring Band.   We walked the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun and drove the Sahuaro National Park East and found my dad's rock cross and scattered ashes in the middle of the desert.  Seems hard to believe he's been gone almost 5 years.

Grandma perked up enough once we changed medications to recognize and receive all the glory on her big day.  Her thought for the day, "I'm not THAT sick"!  Love this woman.  Her 88 year old sister came in from WI to help celebrate and it was great to watch them catch up on the happenings in Arkdale, WI.