Great Grandmother Turns 90

Don't forget the great gift of time!

What grandmother (or great grandma!) would turn down an evening out with her family?

Invited her over for dinner. Have her spend Sunday with you and the family. Take her to a movie. Go shopping. Treat her to a manicure outside of her living complex.

Go out to lunch.

Spend time with her and get to know her.

And here's a little gift for yourself . . . get a tape recorder and record your conversations. What was she like when she was a child? Where did her family live? How did she meet her spouse? What was her life like?

What a treasure this would be for YOUR children someday!

Enjoy her while she is healthy and let her know how much you care!!!!! And take LOTS of pictures too!

D. in milwaukee

My grandmother also lives in an assisted living home. For her birthdays/holidays we give her BINGO $$ and a gift certificate to get her hair and nails done at the Beauty Shop that is at the home. Puzzles are another great gift, it also something that she can do with her friends. We bought her a roll up puzzle mat for the puzzles so they could be moved from her room to the social area if she wanted.
Or since your great grandma likes to embroider and make rosary's maybe get her a little tote that has some new thread,towels,beads, etc.
Does she have a favorite restaurant, does she have refrigerator? Maybe you and other family members could have one meal a week/month delivered to her. The portions are usually so large that she could eat some of it and save the rest for another meal (or two).

You know, at age 90, grandma's don't need "things"...what they want/like are things that they can remember, special times, memories, etc.

For my hubby's grandmothers 90th, they had a big party, but all of the kids/grandkids wrote down a little memory of grandma and all the memories were gathered and put in a book for her to open and read anytime. We also hung a large corkboard wall hanging (including tacks) so that everytime she got pictures in the mail, etc, she could tack them up for her friends to see, sort of a brag book, but something on a larger scale and hung on the wall. Eventually, she ended up with 3 cork boards filled with family pictures, some with her in them, some without. And, it was a nice talking piece when people came to visit her. Who's this, who's that, etc.

You could go with something practicle too, like slippers, or a nightrobe. Or, even a plant to take care of...when people get older, they find that taking care of plants is a small mundain task that keeps them busy and taking care of something living, since so many people have now taken on the role of taking care of them, now they can take care of something again too.

Well, I am going to go out on a limb here and make a suggestion either you will love or hate- how about asking her what she would like?

Beyond that, I am suspecting she will most enjoy just having all her friends and family around her on her birthday. If you wanted to do something special for her and don't mind having it be a little late, you could take a photo of everyone who comes to the party, one by one, couple by couple, family by family, whatever, and put the photos in a big photo collage frame, so she has a visual reminder of all the people who love her and who came to her party. You could have the frame already bought, and either use an old polaroid camera, or do the one-hour developing and put them in right after the party. I know this is something you couldn't give her until the party is over, but I would think she would like it all the same.

My husband's grandpa and my own great grandfather had big parties when they got to a big year, and they both were just so pleased that so many people showed up.

One other idea- for my great grandpa, my mother wrote a tall tale describing grampa's life and my sister illustrated it. my mother read it allowed at the party and it was a big hit.

Let us know what you end up doing.

My Grandmother just turned 85 in November and we were at a loss of what to get her. My sister suggested a digital photo frame. We all gathered pictures of family both past and present, scanned them into our computer and downloaded them on her frame. She loved it and we can always add more photos. Its the gift that keep on giving.

when my mother in law turned 80 i was stumped too as to a gift. i had my son, my husband and my brother in law all have their picture taken together. this is the only picture of my son and his uncle-the uncle has since moved to another state and we don't see him often any more. so maybe some kind of family picture!!

What about a collage of pictures of your sons and maybe other family members. At that age most people don't need or want more "stuff" but do appreciate pictures.

Hi D., I have the perfect gift idea. Being a great grandmother myself I put myself in her shoes. She may like to have a nice new batch of embroidery thread, all colors, a nice card and a promise to help card put into it. The card can read, I pomise to spend (whatever amount of time you can spare) each month for the next year to help you sort out pictures, write letters to friends, listen to your storys that I cherish, etc. This would be a God sent to most of us.
God bless her and you for caring enough to ask.

What about giving your Great Grandmother a book about her life? It's a great, unique way to tell her you love her and preserve her memory for others in the future. Heritage Makers is a company that allows you to to make completely personalized hardbound, archival quality books. Check out my website to learn more http://www.frommemoriestobooks.com or email me if you want to learn more! I'm more than happy to help you make a book!