A birthday tribute to my beautiful Grandma!

Marlene Joan Mingo was born July 27, 1934 to Joseph and Lillian Mingo in Klamath Falls, Oregon. She is the one of three daughters. She married C.M. Nelson on July 18, 1953 and had two sons, Steve and Randy. 

She is my beautiful grandmother and today is her 80^th birthday! Since I can’t be with her today, I decided to write and share with you my wonderful grandmother.

I have always been close to my Grandma even though she lived about a thousand miles away in Oregon. We wrote letters and she would encourage me in everything that I did. I could talk to her about anything. She is a great woman of God. She's a sweet woman with a soft voice who rarely has a unkind word about anyone. 

Some of my favorite memories of Grandma are when she came to visit. Once we gave her string cheese for a snack and instead of pulling a string of cheese off, she bite right into it. I remember my siblings and I laughed so hard. Grandma didn’t know how to get string cheese. It must be heredity because my daughter eats her string cheese the same way. When Grandma visited, she always made a wonderful cinnamon-sugar twist that she called a hoot-n-nanny. 

Last September, my dad surprised me by flying her down. It was great to see her because I hadn’t seen her since my 21^st birthday! She finally got to meet my husband, Joe and my daughter, Abby. She also got to meet her other great-granddaughter, Cosette. It was a quiet visit where we sat and discussed many things. Some important but some were not. I introduce to football as games were on while she was here. It was a short weekend but filled with great memories. I'm glad that she was able to come down and meet my husband and meet her great-granddaughters. 

This past June, she had open heart surgery to repair two valves. While I encouraged and prayed, I was afraid. Open heart surgery is scary at any age. But she’s tough and she’s pulled through and better than ever. She enjoys her church, her little garden and her new cat, Theo. Even though we don't talk often, she is always on my mind.

Please join me in wishing her a happy 80^th birthday!

Happy 80^th Birthday, Grandma! We love you!