In his introduction of Sepia Saturday 824, the host Alan Burnett writes:
"If you are wanting a theme you can have celebrations or cakes or two splendid ladies - the choice, as always, is yours."
What came to mind for me this week was my own mother (who liked to bake cakes), and her sister, who celebrated her 90th birthday this week.
Below is a photo of the two of them together, from 1966 - i.e. 60 years ago.
Mum (36) to the left, and my aunt (30) to the right, sitting on the lawn outside the house where we had been living for about one year then. My aunt and uncle lived in the nearby town back then, and my little brother and our oldest cousin (also a boy) were the same age. So the two families used to get together quite frequently.
Later on, my aunt and her family moved farther away, and family get-togethers got less frequent. However, when my dad retired (at age 60), my parents moved back to their home town/area, which was by then also where I lived (and still live). And as my aunt and uncle also had both family and old friends here, we all saw each other a bit more often again. After my parents died (2009/11), my aunt and uncle also still visited me when they were in this area. Since a few years, they no longer drive this far from home, though. But my brother and I last met up with them last summer in Linköping, where they live.
My mum died in 2009, a few months after turning 79; and my dad did not live to celebrate his 80th either. But (as already mentioned) my aunt turned 90 this week. I sent her a parcel, and also phoned her on the day. Her main celebration will be with her own sons and grandchildren this weekend - and it seems that at age 90, she finds that enough. I kind of assume that a birthday cake in some form will probably be part of the celebration, though. What that one might look like I don't know, but here is one that my mum baked for some other occasion in the past (probably Christmas, judging by the table cloth):
PS. My aunt used to read my blog sometimes, but I'm not sure if she still does. I think in the past I've just referred to her and her husband as my aunt and uncle, no names mentioned, so I decided to stick to that with this post as well.
