Today was THE day

Wow.

I've been part of a truly amazing and historic day in my family's history.

My grandmother, avó Emilia, turned the big 100 today.

A fair turnout for the celebratory lunch of I think around 30-40 people.

Caught up with relatives I hadn't seen for many years, others I had never met before and may not see again, but given the circumstances of the day in question, everyone treated everyone as though they had just spoken yesterday.

Took a bundle of pictures, a few videos, ate lots of food and laughed like there was no tomorrow.

I really did struggle a few times to hold back the tears just seeing the look on avó's face, just wasn't quite sure if she knew exactly what was going on around her but I think deep down she knew what the fuss was about :-)

Got to have a great catch up with my cousin Paula who I hadn't seen for many years. She's done this amazing research on our family tree and produced booklets covering the generations of those under avó Emilia.

Also got to have a good d&m with her about coming out to dad etc as she was expecting a bad reaction from him towards me as well. She was very supportive and that made me feel really great too.

All in all it's been a terrific day. I'm so lucky I could've been here to take part in it.

I certainly feel more a part of a family than I have in a long long time, if not, for the first time.

Parabens avó Emilia. Muitos feliçidades para voçe xoxox