A Custard Pie for Jan

My Grandma Jan is amazing and today she's 80. So Grandma, here's to you! I regret that I didn't get a custard pie off in the mail to you. I doubt they have very good custard pie on the Big Island.

I've never told you how much I respect that you had the nerve to convince Grandpa to let you sell all of your SoCal belongings and set up house on Kona where it's warm enough to suit you. People say "I'm not getting any younger," all the time, but very, very few add "So let's go today, instead of tomorrow."

I so admire your grace, your quiet strength, your nimble knitting hands and passion for Heavenly Hash ice cream. As a child I loved, loved, loved those summer days at your home in San Clemente - rising early enough to see you shuffling around the kitchen in your purple velour robe making toast and reading the tidal forecast for the day. We'd fix sandwiches, pack a few plums and head to the beach for the day.

The day the pelicans came back to San Clemente I thought something was terribly wrong. You were calling my name so loudly up there on the sand and waving your arms so frantically. I came running up from the water and dripped all over you as we watched the pelicans dip and glide way out beyond the waves. We wondered aloud how they could be so graceful with their big beaks and bellies. I smile every day at the little brass pelican on my nightstand - a gift from you.

Just now, as I remembered those times, I was fingering the tiny gold J pendant on a chain around my neck. It was yours and I can hardly remember a time that you weren't wearing it. Then last year when I came to see you in Hawaii, you brought it out for me on the last morning of my visit. Wrapped in tissue paper, it didn't look right in my hand rather than around your neck. I kept it in my pocket during the whole flight and before even unpacking my bags, I found the perfect chain for it in my jewelry. I've worn it ever since.

People probably think it's because I love my name and the letter J. I do, it's true. But really I wear it because I love you.

For 80 years, the world has been a better place. Happy Birthday Grandma.