Happy Birthday PeePie!

Grandma Thomann, my Big Sis on the left and, yup, that's me and good ol' Goofy on the right.

Today is my Grandmother's birthday...and we'll leave it up to you to decide how old she is...that's how Grandma likes it! Also known as, PeePie to my son. Not quite sure if it's a Southern thing, her being raised in Texas, but instead of saying "Peek-A-Boo", she always says "Pee-Pie"...hence, her pet name.

Grandma has always been an inspiration to me. I treasure the memories of spending summers at her house and being in awe of all the stories she told me about her life. She is one of five and grew up in a small town in Texas. Being the oldest, she helped a great deal in raising her siblings. While still a teenager, and feeling the need to see the world, she and a friend made their way to Las Vegas and found jobs at El Rancho Casino which, then, was across from the Golden Nugget on the strip. From there, I'm not sure in which order, she traveled cross country to Louisiana, back home, and then made her final stop at NYC where she met my Grandfather.

V Day: Grandma Far Right (she "claims" the photo was set up and she was NOT a drinker!)

She was working in a fabric store when my Grandfather decided to take a shortcut through the shop to where his car was parked. Little did he know, he'd meet the woman of his dreams. He asked her on a date right then, and after some hesitation, she accepted. Not hearing from him for a while, and changing jobs (to a shop down the street), months later, the same situation arose...Grandpa cutting through the shops, when he ran into her again. Feeling it must be fate, he explained that he'd like to see her again before he was sent over-seas during WWII and she agreed to one more date...and so the story goes...they were married and lived happily ever after.

Grandma and Grandpa

There are sooo many other stories...like how she took flying lessons and could fly a plane but it took her until 50 to get her driver's license. She's one in a million and I love her to pieces!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Grandma about 30 years BEFORE getting her drivers license.