here is the journaling if you'd like to read it:
Growing up, we celebrated every major holiday, some more elaborately than others but every holiday was special, I think because of my grandparents. My grandfather was particularly fond of parades. I remember him standing so proudly with his hand at salute when the soldiers or veterans passed by (he was in WWI, the war to end all wars). But he loved birthdays most of all. He said you HAD to celebrate them because without them, you would be nowhere.
Although I don’t have any photos of Grandpop celebrating his birthdays, I do have them of his children (my mom is Janet) and me. If you look very closely at my mom’s 8th birthday (she’s the one in the very front in the chair), he’s the only gentleman in the photo. My mom, aunt and uncle have passed but I can’t look at the birthday photos without smiling. And we continue to celebrate birthdays in a big way … otherwise, where would we be?
kits are Connie Prince's Forever Young
https://store.gingerscraps.net/Forever-Young-Core-Bundle-by-Connie-Prince.html
which coordinates perfectly with her Make Life Grand
https://store.gingerscraps.net/Make-Life-Grand-Kit-by-Connie-Prince.html
Gingerbread Ladies' Let's Celebrate
https://store.gingerscraps.net/GingerBread-Ladies-Collab-Lets-Celebrate.html
The template is from Fiddle Dee Dee
fonts are Floralista and Thin Skinned
