On Sunday, we gathered with my grandma Alma Mendell to celebrate her 100th birthday. Her actual birthday is tomorrow September 23 and I plan to join her for a smaller celebration. Though yesterday, the family were together to eat, joke and marvel at a really special lady. This was the first time I can remember that any mention of her age was allowed at this annual festivity. You see, my grandma has been lying about her age for so long, that my dad could actually be older then she is. (Or says she is) It is all in good fun, but really, how often do you get to go to the balloon section at the florist and ask for the pink one… um ya… number 100 please.
My grandma is an amazing woman. The truth is that meeting her, you would probably never guess her actual age. She has been a mother, a wife, a dance instructor, an author, a painter and so much more. She was born in Cincinnati Ohio but as a young girl moved to San Francisco then Oakland California where she later married my grandfather and raised my father and uncle by Lake Merit. Today you often hear folks talking about all the new things that we have, enjoy and can somehow not live without – the web, email, instant messaging, iPods or even Twitter – but Alma was raised in an era when the inventions were things like the automobile, commercial flight, the television, movies hell even indoor plumbing! She has seen the world change before her very eyes.
Growing up she used to take me to see the latest Disney movies and it was a toss up as to who was more wide eyed at the animation. Alma is a dreamer who encouraged me to be creative and to be at home within my own imagination. She would show up to babysit my sister and I with her box of paints and brushes so that we could spend the afternoon painting clay frogs and pumpkins!
At 36, I am very fortunate to still have Alma in my life – She is a beautiful woman, and a hell of a lady with loads crazy stories to tell. Some are crazy cause they are just out there… and others are just crazy given how much history goes into them. So Grandma, Happy Birthday – I love you and will toast a drink with you tomorrow night!
I am an avid student and evangelist of user-centered design principles - I have created or overhauled some of the world's largest online Business & Technology properties. My focus has always been on building functional design systems that creatively solve business problems. Solutions that convey brand & messaging, but more importantly, are intuitive to maximize the possibilities of an interactive medium. 
