My Great Aunt Dinah, 100 Years Young

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the greatest GIF there ever was:

Happy 100th Birthday, Dinah! You are an inspiration to the whole family and we all love you very much.

In honor of this occasion, Dinah’s daughter Farrell collected photos, drawings, and messages from Dinah’s family and friends and compiled them into a lovely book. It was hard for me to put into words what Dinah means to me, but eventually I came up with the two most important words:

LIFE: Not just because she is blessed with a long life, but because Dinah has taught me so much about life. Even at 100, she lives it to the fullest and inspires everyone around her to simply love life. There is a beautiful energy constantly emanating from Dinah and it comes from a life well lived. I can only hope to have a life as long–but more importantly, as full–as Dinah’s.

HAPPINESS: I cannot even picture Dinah without a smile. I have watched her at Thanksgiving with a giant smile on her face, just observing the happiness of the family around her. Dinah, that happiness comes from you.

Thank you, Dinah, for teaching me what life is all about, for showing me the power of positivity, for instilling a love of art and culture in this whole family, for always smiling, for being active and adventurous no matter the age or ailment, for your love and acceptance of everyone, and for making me look forward to growing old and passing on these life lessons. You are absolutely amazing and I love you so much!

© 2014 Stacey Axelrod. All rights reserved.