Riki at 95: Across Oceans, Generations and Tables

Living to greet one’s 95th birthday is quite an accomplishment, and today we celebrate that auspicious milestone for my mother-in-law, Riki.

Riki was born in Germany and came to the United States in the 1950s, but she has kept her ties to her German family strong through all the years. In many ways, we are all connected through her — across countries, generations and family stories.

Riki and I share a love for some of life’s most beautiful everyday pleasures: gardening, cooking, flowers, vintage china and sparkling crystal. She still has the greenest of thumbs, still cooks, still shops, and still brings her own unmistakable style to everything she does.

We were lucky enough to spend time recently with Riki’s German family in Bavaria, and I’ll be sharing more from that trip in a series of posts about the meals, mountains, castles and warm hospitality we experienced there. But today belongs to Riki, the family thread that ties us all together.

Happy 95th birthday, Riki. Your story keeps traveling through all of us — across oceans, across generations, and always, somehow, back to the table.

Check out this meal Riki prepared for us a few years ago.

Bavarian Family Table

This post is part of my Bavarian Family Table series, a collection of stories from our time with the German cousins — full of family ties, warm hospitality, mountain views, memorable meals and, of course, the table that brings everyone together.

©️ 2026, Glover Gardens