Happy 33rd-and-a-bit Birthday, Grandma

The William Thompson Family

If my grandmother was still alive she’d be celebrating her 137th year, but would still be three years off celebrating her 34rd birthday.

Zula, yes that was her name, was born on 29 February 1880 in Shelby North Carolina. Now if you’re counting things up on your fingers, you’re thinking she would already have turned 34. But nope, she’d still be three years away from that milestone.

That’s because February 29 isn’t always a Leap Day and years that can be divided by 4 aren’t always a Leap Year. The exceptions are years that can’t be divided by 400. So 1900 wasn’t a Leap Year but 2000 was.

Extended Thompson family in North Carolina

Zula suited her birth date. She was almost one-of-a-kind and lived according to her own rules.

To mark her birth date, I’ll share some of her escapades. I can’t verify the truth in all of them, but those who tell the stories believe them.

• Her mother named her children after characters in books. The Thompson parents, brothers and sisters are pictured above. Front row: William and Frances, parents; middle row: Leola Eulalia, Frances Madge, Zula Elizabeth, sisters; back row: Carl Shurz, Emmet Tyre, Rush Clarence, Zolliecoffer Jenks and Chivis, brothers (last two boys on right are twins).
• Zula attended Duke University in the late 1890s and was expelled for popping corn in a basket in a fireplace.
• She eloped with a lumberjack, but he later ran off without her. She later married my grandfather, who was also from North Carolina. They met in Washington State.
• Relatives say she was a great cook, but dad said he taught himself to cook at age 7 so he was sure to get a meal. Apparently she was too busy socialising (grandpa was a state senator) to worry about meals.
• Grandpa also ran a general store and Zula sold liquor to the native Americans through her bedroom window. My folks discovered this on a visit when Zula gave them her bedroom and the Indians came knocking on the window in the middle of the night.
• She was tireless. Until she fell down the basement stairs and broke her hip (and came to live with us) she ran horses and looked after 40 acres of strawberries.
• When she came to live with us, she taught my sisters to cheat at cards and made clothes for all of us but never tied off the seams so sometimes we ‘unravelled’.
• She had a glass eye. In fact she had a collection of glass eyes. Most mornings, she’d hold the box of eyes up to her face and ask which one matched best.
• She loved whiskey, ice cream and pizza, in that order. She dyed her hair with indigo.
• We threw a huge party to celebrate her 88th year (and 21st birthday). She made and wore red satin toreador capri pants and a red satin Ben Casey blouse. She added a red feather in her hair and wore those gold glittery shoes with fake gems on the toes. She asked for an electric guitar. My mum bought her an electric look-alike and Zula taught herself to play it on her lap. When she played it, dad said it sounded like a Japanese whorehouse.
• She outlived all her children and died in her sleep.

The house where grandma fell, in Laurel Washington. The general store was to the left. I wonder if it’s still there?

So grandma, happy birthday and rest in peace.

I have to get this posted before your birthday is over.

P.S. Many thanks to my wonderful cousin, Jo Jury, for sharing these photos the last time I visited her in Seattle. Very excited that we’ll be there again in a couple of weeks. Update: Jo has added some more stories, so scroll down the comments (far down) for more antics. Thanks Jo! 🙂

P.S.S. My food blog—Cooking on page 32—was named to mark Zula’s age when that blog was started.

Leola, Madge and Zula