Abu

Today I'm thinking about my Abu who is celebrating her 93rd birthday.  "Abu" is what I call my maternal grandmother.  I called my maternal grandfather "Gung Gung".  Aren't those the best grandparent names ever?


My Abu is an amazing woman.  In short, she grew up in China, went to university (she's wicked smart), managed to escape the Japanese and the Communists and landed in the states circa 1956.  She worked at the United Nations as a statistician (again, wicked smart).  She raised three children, has 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Abu and Gung Gung in China.  Aren't they fabulous? 

 

My Abu taught her two daughters how to cook, knit, sew, crochet, embroider and they are both incredibly skilled and crafty.  My mother has taught me how to do all these things and even though I'm not nearly as skilled and crafty as they, I am now writing a blog about it.  The most amazing thing is that Abu still does all of these things!  Whenever I go home to visit she cooks my favorite dishes (beef tendon stew, tea smoked chicken legs and boatze).  She can knit without taking her eyes off the tv (she loves watching tennis like I do).  She can even walk and knit at the same time.  She plays mahjong every week with "the ladies" and quietly hustles everyone out of their money.  I can't really put into words how important she is to me so I'll just say how lucky I feel to have my Abu in my life and grateful for all the gifts she's passed on to me.


Happy Birthday, Abu!