Happy Birthday Annie

Annie hit the big FOUR-OH today. She still looks the same as she did fourteen years ago when I first met her. Eric brought her home from Kentucky to meet the family. She had on a purple knit dress with black heels, and marched right past me to follow Eric in the house. I guess she thought I was the housekeeper. No problem! He was stationed at Fort Knox, as the lieutenant in charge of the motor pool. He was not a happy camper as he had just finished Combat Engineer training at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri where he was happily building bridges and blowing them up with explosives. He was headed to Korea when his orders changed at the last minute and he found himself making sure the privates kept the oil changed in the base vehicles at Ft. Knox. Cushy duty, but was a bit of a let-down. When he first got to Ky. he pulled into town and parked in front of a restaurant and went in wearing his Army uniform. Annie waited on his table. Smart girl that she is, she invited him to sleep on her sofa instead of renting an expensive apartment off base. The rest is history. Annie has followed Eric all over the place, helping him to pursue his career with the Boy Scouts. Annie is comfortable in the same room with nuclear scientists and tee-totalling Mormon wives. She can knit, crochet and spin like a champ, and can keep a drop spindle going longer than anyone in the continental United States, standing on a chair, with the spindle almost down to the floor. It's awe-inspiring. Annie is a world class cook,a nationally ranked fencer, and artisan baker - AND she produced two of the cutest and smartest grandkids in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!! Happy Birthday, Annie! I'm so happy Mia is there to help you all celebrate!