Essie Ray at 90 years young

That's what her cakes said! My great grandma just turned 90! How awesome is that? To have lived for so long and seen so much...change. That's gotta be amazing. She's seen the first flight of airplanes. The first movie with sound. The invention of the car radio. The invention of the copier and the ballpoint pen! The microwave. Then all the cool video games and electronics we have today. And look at the evolution of cars. and tv. and 8-tracks to blu-ray! Her son got her a computer once. she never turned it on. She does have a dvd player. And a cd player, but her record player still works fine. She outlived her husband, all of his sisters, and all of her brothers except 1. She's been through world war 2...and granddad fought in it. They got married so so very young, and were married their entire lives. To be with someone that long, and not know any other way, i cant imagine yet. Grandad passed away in February 2003. I remember being at UIL competition for poetry & prose. I had already halfway finished competition and was sitting at the table rehearsing. I was talking to my coach/teacher about possibly changing my last poem at the last minute, because one of my classmates from our school was doing the same one. And then my phone rang. Grandad had passed away. I still had to finish competition, and i kept my original poem. I ended up placing. My teacher tried her best to get a bus to go home as soon as possible so i could get on the road and head out of town. Mammaw Ray is the strongest lady i know. She holds our family together. I dont even want to think about what's going to happen when she's no longer here. She was rushed to the ER for low low low blood pressure the night before last and now has to give herself insulin shots. The medicine for her diabetes is effecting her kidneys. She attends a super small church called White Rock Baptist Church. It's outside of Bremond, TX. It's pretty much all elderly folks, with an occasional kid or two. I think the membership count is about 12. But they're the best. Justin bought some trumpet music for us - some Christmas duets - and im hoping to go play at Mammaw Ray's church for the holidays. We always talk about it, and ive done it once before. We're also having Christmas lunch at Mammaw Ray's house this year. I think she thinks it's going to be her last one. But i dont want to think about that. Right now i want to celebrate her life. Her wonderful life. I hadnt seen alot of the pictures of her younger years on display at her party...she's a beautiful woman inside and out. Here's some pics of her 90th birthday party - which was a complete surprise to her! :)

Entrance with her oldest daughter:

Hugging her only living brother after walking in - my favorite picture of the night.