The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City has been a special place for years for my family. Every year, we celebrate the birthday of my beloved Grandmother- Carol Margaret Latimer Child- who is even more "Grand" than this beautiful hotel. My Grandmother has raised 6 children and now has numerous sons and daughter-in-laws, grandchildren, and even great- grandchildren. I would have to say that my Grandma is a STELLAR cook. I love her homemade rolls more than ANYTHING in the world. Food truly was her way of showing us how much she cared for us, and instilling traditions. My grandmother is big on traditions. For every major holiday, including general conference, we would go to her house where we would have a special menu of foods for each event. When my cousins, the Greenwoods, came into town, we always had lasagna. For Thanksgiving, we would have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, pecan yams, peas, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and she would always give us a gingerbread man to take home with us- which usually didn't even make it on the ride home. For Christmas, we always had ham- and she would specially get out French's mustard for my dad because she knows how much he loves it. My grandma has always had a soft spot for my dad- when he would sometimes have to come late due to seeing patients at the hospital, she would make sure that we wouldn't eat all of the chip dip so that he could have some. In fact, she actually reserved some in a separate container for him and then filled it when he came. This photo is of my beautiful grandmother with my father. I gave her this photo in a picture frame for her birthday celebration and she kept saying just how much my dad is "such a sour puss". She must have repeated this 10 times throughout the lunch, and she even showed the picture to our waiter and commented to him that her son-in-law is a "treasure- but a sour puss". There's pure love in that comment because she definitely mentioned him more than anyone else at lunch.My grandmother was actually one of the main people who encouraged me to have my wedding reception at the Grand America and so it was truly an honor for my to have her be present at our wedding dinner. Old age has taken a toll on her in that it is hard for her to do so many of the things she loved to do- even cooking is hard- but she always saves her strength and energy to make it to our special events- particularly if they are at the Grand America. Her Dec. 27th birthday lunch this year was no exception. She had been sick earlier in the week but was all ready for her grand birthday. We had over two full tables of her family there to honor her- thanks for the great genes Grandma! (My grandma is down at the far left end- in the happy yellow blouse)
2 comments:
She is truly a grand woman and you should know that you are one yourself!
Joyous to know about this grand celebration. Your grandmother looks beautiful. Want to arrange a birthday for my grandmother too and planning to book one of event venues Chicago for the celebrations. Need to have some great ideas for it.
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