I’m celebrating another birthday this weekend. Well . . . celebrating may not be the word. We celebrate our 16th when we get our driver’s license and our 21st when we drive to the bar. But this is 65. I do have that strange feeling of “Whew! I made it.” I expected that I would not be looking forward so much to things ahead. But, I have two beautiful grand kids and, I have just recently been given an opportunity to be a part of a new business with a bright future. For that I am very grateful
The other thing that tends to happen when you reach these
high numbers on you birthday cards is a desire to look back over your life.
And . . . that’s exactly what I have been doing lately. Here are a few
highlights.
I remember when I was 5 and there was politics on TV. I
understood somewhat about the elections and I asked my sister who she thought
would win the presidency. She said “Everyone knows it will be Eisenhower.” If
everyone knows that, I thought, why bother with the election?
I remember Saturday morning TV. Fury, Sky King and The Lone
Ranger. How cool was that?
I remember when I was 7 my family’s retail store burned
down. Till then, I didn’t know my dad could cry.
I remember when I was 8, Khrushchev telling us he was going
to bury us. That’s when I first learned that people hated free countries.
I remember when I was 9, lighting the ends of my sister’s
Tampax and throwing them out an upstairs window. Hey . . . they looked like
firecrackers to me. They were all duds.
I remember at 15 watching the flag on the courthouse
building drop to half-mast because our President had just died.
I remember at 16 taking driver training and soon after we
got our licenses, two of my good friends, one who was in driver training with
me, died together in a terrible crash.
Every time I think back to my first love, I smile. She was
like the perfect first girlfriend a guy could have asked for. And yes . . . I
messed that up.
Then I remember (confession time) using my uncle’s influence
to slip me into college early to stay out of the draft.
The rest of my years I spent as a grown-up. There have been
happy times, sad times, tough times, glorious times and tragedies. Would I
change some things? Of course. Everything? No way.
All in all, I think my life-long friends and family have
been my greatest gift. And now, I am going over to my family’s home (grand kids
included) to celebrate . . . well yes celebrate, who I am and where I am in my life.
No doubt a few Facebook pictures will soon follow.
