Ninety-Nine |
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4 August 2025 - Puszcz Gdański
Today my grandmother turns 99 years old! Traveling through what was still the German Empire when she was born really brings home how different the world she grew up in was. Her father died of tuberculosis when she was just 5, a disease that no one in the developed world dies from today. She saw her older brother go off to war to fight the Japanese Empire in the Pacific. She married and produced three children during the baby boom of the 1950's. My two aunts are still living, but she watched her son, my father, die four years ago. She took care of me when I was young, so we have a special bond to this day. I will likely not live to see 99 nor have grandchildren. My grandmother was well-named to be born with the last name Fortune. She has lived a lucky life, but also has an iron will. She was quite overweight when I was young and became diabetic before she decided to walk off the weight and eat healthier. Getting skinny can cure diabetes if it's a result of being overweight. My grandfather and father both had heart attacks from being overweight. She beat cancer. Last time I talked to her she was in the car with my aunt on the way to the dentist. I finally brought myself to visit the dentist last week for the first time in years. Grandma is also a social butterfly, on the phone with friends and relatives every day. I wouldn't be surprised if she makes it to 120!
