Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Extra Extra: Mrs. Rosalie Hamilton turns 100 years old!

What do you have to do to get a great big bouquet of red roses, lilies, baby's breath and ferns?
Apparently you have to be 100 years old!
This lovely lady is Mrs. Rosalie Hamilton, the Gold Country Girls third grade teacher at Gold Oak School.
As the big sister, I was the lucky one who attended her class first. I also was lucky enough last Friday to attend a special Senior Center luncheon in honor of her 100th birthday. I think I was the only one there calling her "Mrs. Hamilton". She was thrilled that I was there, I was thrilled that I was there. I was her only student attending that luncheon. Gosh, it made me feel young!
Mrs. Hamilton arrives at the Senior Center in her beautiful spangled dress which matched her shining hair. She is always at the center, enjoying lunch, or playing pinochle in a group which includes my mother-in-law, who was nice enough to invite me to this special luncheon.
What, I have to pay my $3? It's my 100th birthday for pete's sake, you would think I could get in for free for once! (My words, I am sure she didn't even realise we were all here for her yet!)
Surprise! We break out into a rousing round of Happy Birthday!
This is my mother-in-law Jayne with Rosalie. Jayne just wants lunch to be over so that she can beat her at pinochle. But first we had to have a turkey dinner... and birthday cake too of course.
Everyone wanted their picture taken with Rosalie.
I posted a few photos on Facebook last weekend, and had several comments. One lady, mother of a good friend of Heidi's, said that she "loved Mrs. Hamilton, she was a sweet wonderful woman and such a good teacher". Another said she had Mrs. Hamilton in third grade also and she would "bring apples or some kind of fruit for us to have as a special snack".
She has lots and lots of friends, and they all wanted their time in the spotlight with Mrs. Hamilton!
I have only two strong memories of third grade. One was a little dead hummingbird that she brought to school. It had apparently flown into her picture window in her living room and broken its neck. She brought it to school to let us see it. I remember it was a bit sad, but so beautiful. Part of life to be learned.
Another time, as we lined up along the wall at the back of the school where our classroom was, waiting for her to open the door, there was a little rattlesnake (very small but still dangerous of course) at the foot of the bank along the sidewalk. I don't really remember what she did but no one was bitten. I just remember how little the snake was, and how she taught us about what to do if we encountered one again.
Getting ready to cut the birthday cake. (We helped her, she only had to cut the first piece.)
Mrs. Hamilton once taught at the Kelsey Schoolhouse which is on the Georgetown Divide where I live. It is a very small school. I would have loved to go to school there, especially if she was my teacher!
She was treated to another round of Happy Birthday. It was a good cake, vanilla and chocolate with pudding in the center. There was just enough, we ate it all up. Yum!
Happy Birthday Mrs. Hamilton. We love you!

6 comments:

Heidi Ann said...

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Hamilton!! I am so glad you were able to attend her party - she looks beautiful. What a special day!

★Carol★ said...

Mrs. Hamilton does not look her age! What a pretty lady, and it's obvious she made a positive impact on your life. I will always remember Mrs. Stemm, who would have a big party at her house every summer for her class. And Miss Valentine, who would play guitar for us. It's always nice when a teacher actually likes children, isn't it? Happy Birthday Mrs. Hamilton!!

Missy said...

Mrs. Hamilton is doing something right -- she looks fabulous! Happy birthday, Mrs. Hamilton!

yosemite faith said...

my brothers and i all went to the same grade school. it is closed now. for some time - as michigans economy has been very very bad for a long long time and our state population declined so it was no longer needed. miss good taught combined 1st/2nd grades. she looked ancient then. my mom and miss good corresponded regularly up til my mom died in 1998. i still send her a christmas card every year and they have never been sent back. when i show others her in my class picture others think she looked very old then. so i cannot imagine her age now. she was a nice lady and i know in 1998 my mom said miss good was still cross country skiing - slowly...... that was so wonderful that you went to her party.

Anonymous said...

I am Rosalie's grandson, Paul Hamilton. I discovered your Blog, with the article on my grandmother. I loved it! I spoke to her over the phone - and read it to her. She wanted to thank you for your wonderful article.

Very enjoyable Blog too!

Take Care,

Paul

Anonymous said...

My daughter was born on November 19th 2010. Just after Mrs. Hamilton's grandson Paul wrote the comment sitting above mine today! Time has charged on as it's 2024 now. Hard to believe that my daughter is 13 and beautiful, and I can only hope that someday (soon) when I'm at my 100th birthday party, some young mother will see my photo and think 'Now, She couldn't be a hundred days over 75!!' This is what I exclaimed this evening when I saw the elegant and classically gorgeous Mrs. Hamilton! Thank you so much for this tribute to her! Time is quite strange, and life is never easy, but I find it beautiful to know that today, the memories of Mrs. Hamilton are 113 years young and just as vibrant as ever!!! Here's to SO many more golden years to come!! ❤️ Kelly Blair! Acquaintance and random fan of this golden blog, and the beautiful teacher here featured!