Today is my grandmother’s birthday, and a day to smile at her enduring presence in our family.

She had skinny legs, a sharp wit, and was full of sage advice. She made desserts pretty enough for magazine covers and was convinced that it was perfectly fine to eat nothing but fudge or Twinkies for meals if that’s what you wanted.  She held court in a pink recliner with a cigarette in one hand and a Diet Dr. Pepper in the other.  She loved a good story and didn’t mind stretching one a little bit if it made it more interesting.

When I was a kid, she charged into a locked-down elementary school to snatch me out when one of our building blew to bits. She took me for rabies shots when I thought it was a good idea to poke the dog next door with a stick. The great thing is that while I have no memory of the shots- I can still describe in vivid detail the purse she carried to the clinic that always had a surprise that I could fish out after the shot.

As a teenager she slipped me hundred dollar bills with a wink and made me a co-conspirator on many of her plots.

Born in Ohio, she moved to Oklahoma as a child with a family that arrived just as the Great Depression was about to scorch some tough years into the people of this state.  Until her death at age 80, she had seen men off to two world wars, raised three children and somehow managed to hold on to her little acreage through three husbands and a spectrum of financial circumstances.

Through everything, she never seemed to doubt who she was. She ruled her roost, and seemed to impose no limitations on herself or anything she wanted. Mostly, she managed to have fun through most everything that came her way. She was and still is, a strong presence to the two generations of women in this family that she influenced so much. I’m grateful for her and, working in the field of encouraging more women to take on leadership roles, I certainly know that every women would benefit from a grandmother or mentor like her.

As my plane lands in Ohio tonight, I bet she would think it’s pretty cool I’m here on what would be her 90th birthday and be pleased at how far her girls, and girls everywhere, have come.

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