Good day dear readers, how are you in this moment?

Let me share some of my week as the story I tell you today emerged on Tuesday. It was splendid, we laughed a lot in my classroom, I spent time on the balcony with my hubby enjoying warm summer evenings (albeit unusual in September ) by candlelight and as I am writing to you I am in the train on my way to my favourite region in Switzerland. The French-speaking part. More precisely, today I go where my beloved grandma used to live and the place is actually bilingual as it sits right where the German- and French-speaking part meet.

Coincidentally, the heart-warming story I love to share with you today is also about a granny.

A granny in Brasil. I hope this story delights your day the way it had mine.

One of my students, who is from Brasil, excitedly told me on Tuesday that it was her grandma‘s birthday. We are in a German beginner‘s class and she articulated in German what she wanted to share with me, while all the others were busy with a worksheet finding out how healthy their lifestyle was. „What a coincidence!“, you will think in a minute :-).

It turned out that my student‘s grandma not just had birthday, but celebrated her one hundred and first birthday on September 15th 2020! That is 101! I have never connected with a person in that age before. Have you?

That is when I had the class listen to the beautiful news their classmate had to share. We were delighted and wanted to know a bit more: What is her name? How is she doing? What is her recipe to get that old? Who celebrates with her?

Decla is healthy, lively, reads everyday but does not spend too much time in front of the TV, and she eats a lot of fruits and veggies, we learnt. „She is an intelligent lady“, her granddaughter proudly said with her eyes now a bit watery. My student then started to write sentences about Decla into her notebook and asked me to look over it for mistakes. That is how we learn wholeheartedly.

By pure chance, we were talking and learning all things health in the classroom this week. And the top result in the small and not too serious health test on the worksheet we made was „You will get a 100 years old“ :0).

My student had more to enchant us with. A photograph with four generations in it. They took the pic on Decla‘s 100th last year. You see granny Decla, my student‘s mum (Decla‘s daughter that is), my student herself, and her adult daughter. We were touched and delighted.

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Wonderful women, but the most beautiful of all is Decla, what do you think!
She has such a warm and beautiful face, a bronze skin shining amazingly stunning and those lila and turquoise robes suit her wonderfully.

Spontaneously and filled with love, I wrote Decla‘s name on the whiteboard for all to see the name, the number 101, drew three hearts beside the name and a four-leaf clover (which shall bring luck).

My student was deeply moved by this and took a picture for her granny to also see it. A celebration party was set for the night in Brasil and my student and her sisters virtually joined in via Instagram live.

We made Decla our class‘ grandma as everyone else lost their grandparents. A 13 strong class was clapping with joy and excitement.

The next day, my student came late to school and suffered from a little hangover… It was a long night and also a bittersweet one as she was sad that she could not celebrate with her beloved grandma in person due to travel restrictions because of Covid-19.

She brought new pics and it seemed Decla had a blast with the remaining family in Brasil looking good as ever and smiling gently and content into cameras enjoying a piece of her birthday cake. Such a lovely lady.

I thought Decla and her story are such a ray of sunshine I could not not share it with you.

May she stay healthy and always be surrounded by love. Here is to 102, Decla!

As if this was not heart-warming enough, I wrap today up with the uncommon but so heartfelt wish from my train‘s conductor over the loudspeakers:

Look after one another!

💝💖💝

PS: On the train ride home I overheard a conversation of two sweet elderly women… Really true. They were talking appearance and clothing, when one of them (in her seventies at least) told her friend that her mama was still alive and is now 99 years old and that she wears white blouses every day and is keen to look chic. So very sweet!

So, let us look very well after ourselves and each other.