Happy 96th Birthday to my Gran...

Today I spent some time with my extended family to celebrate the 96th birthday of my Gran. She was tired and slept but she did wake up to talk to my aunty in Australia and to say that it was important for us to love one and another 'ia fealofani' and I could see her smiling when we sang some of her favourite songs like "you are my sunshine" which is one of my dad's best songs as well.

It was neat to meet with my family to catch up and then to share about what Granma had done to bless our lives. My family, my aunties and uncles, cousins and their children reflected on how we have been blessed by her presence and also some of the influences and things she did to show her love for us and we now have 5 generations in our family with a possible 6th.

I remember she paid for my fare, as I was a poor Uni student at the time, and she travelled with me to Samoa for my research. Hence, two of my books have been dedicated to her "Mt Vaea and the tears of Apaula" as well as "Tagaloalagi" (play) with a character called Grenma which was fashioned around my Granma growing up in being wise and sharing her wisdom with others.

I think I might be the 5th eldest grandchildren of my Granma and I remember growing up that she was very strict and much like my dad in being no nonsense but there was also a lot of love for the family and caring for children. Granma also had a very personal relationship with God and would constantly pray for us and was generous in giving away the things that she had to people (like my dad is also.)

She is the matriarch of our family and has kept us together over the years having been a widow to my grandfather in the 1970s and then raising up a family by herself. She taught me how to make potato salad and also trifle, recipes that I still use today with my own added variety but also more importantly about looking after my family and also others.

Happy 96th Birthday Granma, you have left a legacy for us to continue to run the race to 96 years and beyond. God bless our special Mama, Granma, aunty with lots of love...