Hi friends. I’m writing this post on my flight home from a weekend in Florida with my family.

The occasion for my visit?

Mema’s 93rd birthday!!! My sweet grandmother celebrated her birthday on Easter Sunday and there was no way that I was missing out on being there to shower her with love. Ya only turn 93 once and what a milestone that is! It is not lost on me how incredibly fortunate my grandmother and I are for the number of years we’ve been able to share in both of our lives.

Here is a page from a really sweet scrapbook that my grandmother made me in 2001. We have done a whole lot of life together and she’s been my rock through it.

I may start crying on this plane but watching Finn and Mema’s relationship develop and grow has been one of the biggest blessings of all. My grandmother has been so special to me throughout my life knowing that Finn has a strong and special bond with her too means the world to me.

Speaking of Finn, my little bunny spent was with his dad for the weekend. We missed him and FaceTimed him a couple of times but it was nice to get some one-on-one time with my parents and grandmother. Mema spent her birthday morning sharing stories with me about growing up in West Virginia, college and meeting my grandfather and it was so great.

It was also a good thing that Finn wasn’t with me because the weather for this trip was no bueno. It was rainy, windy or cold every day. I felt badly for all the families there on spring break.

Here are a few more photo highlights from my weekend trip!

My grandmother in her early 20s. (She’s my dad’s mother.)

My mama in her early 30s. I always love seeing old photos. <3

Me + my mom. My grandmother’s birthday marked ONE YEAR since she was able to leave Duke and come home to Florida after her double lung transplant! Her healing journey hasn’t been linear but we feel so fortunate that her lung are working great with no signs of rejection at this moment.

Easter birthday party! We did our Easter meal on Saturday night because my grandmother requested bolognese for her birthday dinner. We ate and opened presents. She got some great sun hats for balcony sitting! My parents gifted her this LL Bean Hat and I gifted her this cute straw bucket hat.

I did a little themed gift with a Dolma sun dress (my grandmother loves these flowy style dresses), the hat, a cute matchy pouch and some nice spf lip care. For my Charlotte-area readers, I cannot recommend Woo! Skincare + Cosmetics enough when it comes to shopping for nice gifts. They have such a great selection.

In lieu of cake, my grandmother requested birthday donuts! She’s become a fan of Parlor Doughnuts so that’s what we ate to celebrate. They are insanely delicious! She likes the coconut cream. I had a turtle and a blueberry.

Beau at the end of the birthday party. I think all the celebrating wore him out. 😉

It was difficult to leave as it always is but I am headed back to Charlotte with a heart full of celebration and love.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEMA!

Thanks for being here, following along and letting me share 13 years of Mema with you on my blog! Big hugs to everyone!

xo,

Jen

IMPORTANT! I’m finally going to make that Q&A post with Mema happen soon! If you have any questions for her – drop them in the comments below or shoot me an email! 🙂