Taking Time to Celebrate...

good evening!

my friend ada turned eighty this week

and yesterday her daughter brought together a room full of her friends

and we had afternoon tea.

ada is the first person in her eighties who i call a friend

my dad is eighty

but he's my dad..that's different.

when i first moved to this city

i went out on a ladies supper evening to a local cafe with a group of women,

and ada and i just connected.

it was like talking to my mum and my grandma and a very good friend

all at the same time.

this is how a lot of girls dressed in the forties

when ada would have been a teenager...

but i think in rural queensland

a lot more of them would have been doing this...

i remember ada telling me that

when she was about twelve or so

her family was so poor

she had to cartloads of wood

and sell them to save enough money

to buy her underwear...

'cos her family couldn't afford it.

i can't even imagine being that poor.

fortunately today

ada is not that poor anymore

and lives a comfortable life

gardening, sewing and enjoying her family,

loving God

and has many friends.

her birthday afternoon tea was special

and had a kind of grace and elegance

not often seen.

her daughter brought a lavender coloured cake

up all the way from melbourne...

we had canapes, punch and birthday cake,

made speeches up

about how we knew her..

and celebrated by singing her favourite songs together.

thank you ada

for showing me

a different era of life and a slower

more caring way of living!

happy 8oth birthday ada..

i hope your 80's rock..gently!

happy birthday to all you august babes out there too!

naturally Carol xox