newnumber6 | My Grandmother (random thoughts)

Today was my Grandmother's birthday. She turned 79 today. We went over there and had lots of pizza, and a lot of my relatives showed up to say hi. (Except for my two aunts who went off on a trip that she was supposed to go on, but they didn't manage to get her ticket. :P). Anyway, I thought I'd dedicate an entry a little to my grandmother.
We call her Baba, it's the macedonian word for it anyway. As mentioned, she's 79, but is very healthy and looks much younger, I'd say she looks like she's in her 50s. She still does her gardening (and it's a big backyard) every year, and often goes on walks in the summer. She speaks English enough to get by, but she's not comfortable with it.
Through my teen years, she practically raised me, since my dad and me and my brother moved in there. She's almost the stereotypical ethnic grandmother who's always concerned that her children/grandchildren aren't eating enough (one phrase in macedian I learned quick was 'I don't want _nothing_'... double negatives aside)
She's been known to chase some of my rowdier cousins around the house with a broom, but to my knowledge has never hit any one, with perhaps an exception for the fascists in Greece that I always assumed with no good reason she helped fight. She once lived in a haunted house. She's a widow, and so by tradition in her culture she's only supposed to wear black in public, but because she doesn't like black she wears what she wants, which I think is cool.
She's old fashioned in a number of ways, of course, but she has a good heart in her and worries too much for everyone. And today, she taught my brother a macedonian swear word.
So, here's to her, even though she'll never read this (I hope, anyway). She's my baba and I love her, and hope she's around for many more years.