99 and counting...

After finally getting back into the USA, we continued our journey south to Rushsylvania, Ohio. I’m sure most of you have never heard of the small town of Rushsylvania and you may be wondering why we would make such a strange detour, it’s not exactly on the way to Chicago. This particular stop was one of the most important on our trip and was an absolute must do. The truth is that there is something pretty special in Rushsylvania, or rather someone, and that’s my great-grandmother, Mable Sloan.

Mable, or Grannie Sloan as she is known by the family, has lived in Ohio for her entire life, and that is a pretty long time, 99 years in fact! She will turn 100 this December and says she does not want a big party…although I think she is looking forward to her letter from the President. Grannie Sloan is a living history book and has experienced many things in her life that most of us can only read about. She is a funny and intelligent woman and a real family treasure to all of us.

We arrived at Grannie’s house Thursday evening and my brother, Jamey, was already there; he had driven up from North Carolina to meet us and visit with Grannie. Remarkably, Grannie Sloan still lives at home on her own so we had planned to stay with her for a couple nights.
We talked with Grannie, fixed a nice dinner for her and tried not to get in her way too much.,, you can imagine that by this age you are pretty set in your routines! I had not seen Grannie for a few years and was impressed at how healthy she looked and how well she still gets around the house. Of course she has her bad days, but I think on the whole she is doing pretty well for approaching 100 years old!

We stayed and had breakfast and lunch with Grannie on Saturday before we left for Chicago, and of course we had to have a quick family photo session! Here are a few pics of the living legend herself…

--Jen

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