Have you ever attended a 100th birthday party?
I have, twice.
It was an honor, joy, marvel and a whole lot of fun.
We used stories, balloons, lots of candles, a cake and sang the requisite song.
The best part?
The birthday girl and birthday boy attended in good spirits and enjoyed the day.
The stories
Okay, I’m a writer, but the stories really do make the party—and help to put a remarkable life into context.
Try to get a photo of the oldest and youngest guests. It didn’t work for Jo–one of her guests was 102!
Anyone who lives to be 100 years old, by definition, has led a remarkable life.
The expanse of history, alone, is a marvel.
For my grandfather’s 100th birthday, I wrote a joint Grandpa-Grammy biography.
I interviewed family members, read up on Sicilian history, World War I, World War II, the depression, chicken farming and general American history.
My mother sat down with a list of questions and learned a lot about her father in the course of a warm Southern California afternoon.
I’d been asking him questions over the years already and often was dumbstruck by his answers.
His glimpse of an airplane?
The Wright brothers plane on exhibit in Chicago circa 1910!
The timeline
It’s hard for people to conceive of what has happened over the previous 100 years.
For both my grandfather and our friend Jo whose birthday we celebrated recently, I printed up a timeline.
I googled “timeline of American history,” and got plenty of choices.
I cut and paste 
–about 100 times–and then included pertinent dates in the centenarian’s life.
By limiting the events in a given year to three or four connected to her life and profession, the timeline is more readable for the party guests.
For the recent party, I inserted photos of Jo at various ages and included pictures of the house in which she was born, the schools she attended and even a page out of her high school yearbook!
(You can find anything on the Internet these days, especially if Ancestry.com helps).
The timeline 1918-2018 was 37 pages long when I printed it up!
We posted it on the wall and invited folks to put their name under their birth year–thereby enabling them to get an idea of how long she’s lived.
The now “signed” timeline went into an album we put together.
Balloons
Of course you need balloons!
Jo had several “100” year old balloons and three big numbers in gold: 1-0-0.
We limited the total number to about 18–but you should have seen us wrangling them into the car in a brisk wind!
Political events in 1990 enabled my family to release 100 balloons into the air for my grandfather’s birthday.
You can’t really do that anymore in California.
Cake!
Of course we had 100th birthday cake.
My mother decorated my grandfather’s cake with chickens to reflect his long career on a chicken farm.
We had American and Italian flags, commendations from several places where he worked and even a letter from then-president Bush congratulating him on the milestone.
Willard Scott told stories about him on the Today Show that day, as he did during those years.
Jo’s cake was gorgeous and so delicious, I didn’t eat dinner that night.
We also served other food pertinent to them.
Italian food in my grandfather’s case, a few southern touches for the Virginia-native Jo.
The best part?
Having people we love attend the party–especially the guests of honor.
Don’t wait!
We really don’t need to wait until an elderly loved one hits 100 years to celebrate their life.
My husband’s grandmother didn’t think she’d reach her 100th birthday, so she threw herself a big 80th birthday party.
She reasoned she’d rather spend her money enjoying a party with friends than let them celebrate her life after her death.
We all flew to Chicago and ate a delicious meal with her friends, danced, sliced a birthday cake and–particularly for the toddlers–played with balloons.
She lived to 93, but we are so glad we feted her when she and her friends could enjoy themselves.
You know what? The cliche is true.
Our presence, at all three parties, was the best present!
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