Birthdays are always worth celebrating, but 100 is such a huge milestone that it deserves extra special honor. Mark’s Aunt Frances, his dad’s sister and only sibling remaining, turned 100 years old on January 12. We went to Blue Ridge to celebrate with Mark’s extended family and I took a few photos to commemorate the day, so I hope you enjoy seeing this beautiful milestone of a life well lived. Aunt Frances is a beautiful lady, she still lives by herself in her house, with her daughter and grandchildren just a short distance away.
Mark’s Aunt Frances & two of his girls.
Mark is going to tell you all about his Aunt Frances in his own words:
Happy Birthday to my Wonderful Aunt and the best person I Know.
Rhoda wanted me to write something about my beautiful Aunt who just turned 100 years young and I do not know where to begin. How do you describe someone to others who is so indescribably wonderful to you. I loved her as a little boy and that has never changed. You just know when someone not only loves you, but truly likes you. Someone who is always on your side. That was and is my Aunt Frances. She was always the first one to get to my grandparents house when we arrived in Orlando, followed by my Cousin and Best friend Keith, my beautiful cousin Vicki and then my big bear of a friend and Cousin Jeffrey…all her children and like Frances my best friends. Frances always made us feel we were home. As the years went by she looked after my Nanny and Pop. When my Nanny developed Alzheimer’s she was there to help my Pop care for her…when my best friend Keith suffered so long with diabetes, she was always there to care for him and when my Pop started to decline in his late nineties, she was the one to care for him. I was always taught that as a Christian the Holy Spirit gives gifts to all who accept Christ and believe in him. Some were prophets, some were teachers, some encouragers and some were given the gifts of servants. Many want the better gifts but in the many years I have been blessed to live, I have come to believe the greatest gift is to be that of a servant. I believe that is her gift and that is why I believe that the Father has rewarded her with such a long and healthy life. God has granted many in my family to live long lives…my Pop (Frances’s dad, was 100 when he died. My Nanny died in her ninety’s even though she had Alzheimer’s. My parents died in their mid-nineties. My great grandparents lived to be quite old. But I believe God has granted my Aunt Frances such good health and longevity because she loved and cared so unselfishly for her family. Like Caleb in the Bible her strength has not abated and to this day she still works in her yard, plays games and uses her computer daily. She is a constant source of amazement to us all and a humbling example. I would be happy if I could be half as nice, half as fearless and half as selfless as she always is. She has passed this trait down to her daughter, my cousin Vicki, who is so much like her and whom I love dearly. It’s a wonderful thing to have a family like I have and I feel great sorrow for those who have never known the joy of having people like my parents, grandparents, sisters, daughters, grandchildren, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces, nephews, and wonderful brother-in-law. To be given all that and then a wonderful wife like Rhoda and having an Aunt like my Frances for all these years is just the cherry on top. So Happy 100th Birthday Frances, you have always been a Bright light in my life and I love you with all my all heart.
Mark adores his Aunt Frances and regularly calls her to catch up and check on her. She’s always glad to hear from him and listen to their conversations. We go up to Blue Ridge a couple of times a year to see her and before Mark’s mom passed away last year, we took her with us on a few occasions. Their family is close and it’s always fun to listen in on the conversations, which remind me so much of my own family tightness. It’s so hard to see this generation come to an end and we savor the moments with them. My own senior family members are leaving us one at a time and there are only 2 brothers left in my mom’s family and none left in my dad’s. He was the last one of his family of 10 children to pass away last year. We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of dad’s passing, February 6th.
Aunt Frances is a joy to be around. She’s positive and happy, grateful for life and her family and she’s still very active, with a computer she gets on daily. She’s a blessing and it’s so amazing that she just turned 100. Her own dad lived to be 100 as well and that’s truly amazing. Mark was sharing pictures with her on his phone and this one caught her attention. I did an AI version of myself of a holiday fancy dressed photo that many did during the Christmas holidays. You probably saw it with red and white and a lollipop in the photo. When I did that picture, Mark said, do one of me with hair, so I did and it put both of us in the picture, see it below. Mark has been showing everyone that picture and getting a good laugh out of it! He hasn’t had hair for a long time and after he lost it all on the top, began shaving his head many years ago. I don’t mind a bald head myself!
So here’s the AI version of Mark and me in a snowy rustic scene outside. Isn’t that funny? It made us both look younger and better, but it’s amazing that AI can do these days. I still don’t do much with it, but doctoring pictures is pretty hysterical. I did this in Chat GPT. It sure made Aunt Frances laugh!
She was looking at me and I was snapping away.
She got a kick out of seeing Mark with hair again.
Her family celebrated so well with this collage of Aunt Frances in her younger years. She’s was and is a beautiful lady.
Happy Birthday banner.
And a gorgeous cake decorated for 100. We had delicious soup for lunch and then cut this beautiful cake. Aunt Frances blew out the one candle on the cake and then exclaimed that she figured it would be one of those candles that wouldn’t blow out. I got that on video and it was so cute! If you want to see the video, I shared it on Facebook, so head over there and watch it. It’s so cute!
She is such a doll and I’m so glad I’ve gotten to meet her and be around this precious lady. Happy 100th birthday to Aunt Frances, the Birthday Queen. This is Mark and his sister, Linda, with her.
I hope you all enjoyed seeing a peek into Mark’s family and the family he grew up with. It’s been fun to be a part of for me!
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🌸 Quick thought- Practical and pretty — bookmarking this. Will try it.
Nice and clear — thanks for the step-by-step.
Tiny tip • Lovely idea; I might try this in my garden 🌿. Love this!
FYI – Well said — couldn’t agree more. Thanks for this!