 Ruth's
90th birthday was a big event in her life and and that of her family.
It was the first and only time all of her children, their spouses, and her
grandchildren and their spouses were ever under one roof at the same
time.
The event was planned
in its entirety by son Ron and his wife Sylvia.
The celebration was to have involved extended family members and guests
but Ruth vetoed this early on, and the final event involved just Ruth’s
immediate family.
As
it turned out, it made for a much more memorable celebration for Ruth
and the family.
Part of the
preparation consisted of Ron scanning and labeling hundreds of old
family photographs that Ruth had collected over the years.
These photographs  were played as a slide show during the luncheon
on Ruth’s birthday, but perhaps equally importantly they record a permanent
and invaluable record of Ruth’s early years and her extended family,
a visual family history that would have been lost had Ron not invested the many, many hours necessary to capture this priceless
family resource.
Many of
these scanned photos may be viewed in Ruth’s Early Years collection,
Mementos, and the
Flake-Wilson Image Gallery.
Others are scattered throughout the various individual family photo
galleries.
The
day's events began with gathering at Ruth's house in the morning for
breakfast and the usual round of house maintenance tasks -- no visit to
"Grandma Ruth" would be complete without a few house repairs. This
was followed by a backyard photo session werein every possible
combination of families were posed and photographed. Oldest
brother Michael -- now known as Michael the Elder since daugher Rebecca
had also married a Michael -- had come prepared with a heavy duty
camera, tripod, and two flashes -- one on-camera and the other
off-camera on a light stand with reflecting umbrella. Seeing this
setup, Michelle asked rhetorically if everyone were going to have to pay
to have their pictures taken!
Following
the outdoor photo session we all went indoors and Grandma Ruth began
opening her birthday presents - of which there were a multitude!
Michael the Elder continued to click away, recording the opening of
presents as well as the family reaction to Ruth's delight at each new
surprise. This just about finished out the morning, and it was
time to adjourn for lunch at a nearby restaurant called Dumplins.
We all squeezed into cars and made our way to Dumplins where several
tables were set up and waiting for us. After the meal, came the
cutting of the birthday cake by Grandma Ruth, with assistance from
Sylvia and daughter Jessica.
Ron
had planned to give a talk using the scanned photos, but when he stood
up he was surprised by Michael the Elder, who asked to say a few words.
Ron was immediatly non-plussed and stammered, "Uh, no. . ." Ever
the prankster, perhaps he thought he was about to be pranked himself in
his culminating moment of glory, to which his many hours of preparation
had been pointing. However, as he
realized that all family eyes were upon him, he finally, with much
reluctance and trepidation, gave way to his older brother. And a
good thing he did. For unbeknownst to him, his other two brothers
and their wives had taken up a collection and bought a gift certificate
at one of Ron and Sylvia's favorite
restaurants
as a token of appreciation for all the long hours and hard work they had
put into making Grandma Ruth's birthday celebration possible! Much
humbled (and relieved!), Ron resumed the podium and gave an outstanding
talk about Grandma Ruth and the meaning behind many photographs he had
scanned!
After
returning home, the natural intra-family competitive juices began to
flow, and the croquet set came out of storage. The great croquet
game was on! The back yard soon resouned with the click of mallet
on ball and the cheers for a shot well made and the groans for a near
miss.
Meanwhile,
the peanut gallery observed from the comfort of the sidelines while
Grandma Ruth laid down for a much deserved nap after a very eventful
day. Afterward, it was time for a final snack and end of day
goodbyes.
As it turned out, it was an event never to be repeated, but the memory
of it lingers on in the thoughts of each person who was there. And
the photographs of the day remind each of us just how special the day
was, and how precious the memories are.
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