Originally posted by Mike Perry
Originally posted by Mike Perry
Originally shared by Mike Perry
MY GRANDMOTHER AT 100 YEARS OLD
For some reason my grandmother came to mind today, she's has been gone for quite a while now. This photo was taken on her one hundredth birthday - she was a strong minded woman.
When she was 83 she was standing on a chair, hanging some new curtains, and somehow fell breaking her hip. She was unable to move and stayed on the floor all day until my aunt, with whom she lived, returned home from work. Gran was then rushed to hospital and, as well as the damage to her hip, she contracted pneumonia.
The hospital doctors gave her little hope of recovery, she was very poorly. But as I have already said, she was very strong minded - and lived on for another 20 years. She passed away when she was 103. A lesson for us all - never say die!
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
for my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
~ Poem from Invictus by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)
#Age #100 #Birthday #Poem #NeverSayDie #Invictus
Wow she was a strong-minded woman. Very nice picture very sweet and by the way I love that poem. It's one of my faves.
ReplyDeleteEvelon Burley Thank you very much, she was certainly strong minded - and in her beliefs and opinions!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this David Bennett.
ReplyDeleteMike Perry, such beautiful eyes. If you could wash away the marks of time, and care, and worry on her face back to younger days, those beautiful eyes would be the same.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you thought about her, it's a treat to see her and think of all the things she had seen and the changes she lived through.
please do share here with us if you have any other family you ever want us to see, thank heavens for David Bennett sharing it here.
(Good catch David)
Also, Mike...that is a beautiful poem, and a beautiful tribute too.
ReplyDeleteI just love this photo, Mike Perry, her deep set eyes. She looks like someone who looked you straight, told you the truth, and really listened and heard. Don't know if she was, but that's what her eyes tell me about her.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Siemers Thank you so much Margaret. Gran was from a different time so her beliefs and opinions were perhaps very different to today. As, I guess, ours are, or will be to our grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteRoma Arellano Exactly right - she had strong opinions and beliefs created by tough times, especially in her younger days.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks.
Mike Perry I know it can sound trite when one of my daughters or nieces or nephews is going through a rough patch, but I always tell them that the reason their grandfather (my dad) and my grandparents were such amazing role models to us was precisely because of their own challenges in life. That's what makes a person human, compassionate, and yes, interesting to be around.
ReplyDeleteWell said Roma Arellano, and so true. I would venture to say this is why we all love Mike Perry and his posts. He's rather amazing too.
ReplyDelete