February 13, 1951 to February 13, 2013

Today is my birthday. I am 62 years old. That number seems so unreal to me. In my mind, I'm not that old. I really don't know what age I am in my mind but it is certainly not old enough for Social Security. If I could get my mind and my body together, maybe I wouldn't think about that number so much.

It's hard to imagine having lived 62 years in this earth. There have been so many changes to the world in that time. Our first TV was a huge box with a picture in black and white and I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world. I happily sat each day watching Captain Kangaroo and all the cartoons. Now you can get TV programs sent to your smartphone and watch anywhere you want. Amazing!

Our first telephone was a rotary dial that came in black. You had your choice of colors if you chose black. Wow, party lines. Those were the pits when you really needed to use the phone. But they were great for getting all the lastest gossip as long as you could get the receiver off the set without alerting the ones talking. I'm not saying I did that but I'm not saying I didn't.

We put a man on the moon the year I turned 18. It was thrilling to watch even if my Dad did insist that it was all filmed in the desert out west. That same month, my little sister was born, the only sibling I have. She was my graduation present. I really, truly wanted a car but she has turned out to be the best graduation present I could ever have gotten.

Computers! I wanted to be a computer programmer when I graduated from high school. Then computers filled whole rooms and had to be protected from dust and heat. I was so excited about the propect of doing something in this new and amazing field. But, my Dad didn't think a college education was all that important and so I went to work.

Vinyl records went to 8 track tapes which went to cassette tapes which went to compact discs (CDs) which have now got to MP3. Transistor radios were so popular. If you were lucky enough to have one, you were "it". Now you can listen to the radio on your computer, play music on your computer, watch movies, videos, talk face to face to someone far away. Again, amazing!

I found some old photos of my Dad and Mom and I. I thought you might like to see them.

 Mom and I - Easter - probably 1956

Isn't she beautiful?

Dad and I Christmas 1956

And my Dad was so handsome.

I haven't learned how to crop photos on the lap top so there is white space below the photos. I love how young my Mom and Dad look and they were. In 1956, Dad would have been 26 and Mom would have been 25. So young. I didn't have a child until I was 25 and here my Mom already had a 5 year old. We lost Dad in 1981 to cancer. My Mom is still going strong at 81 and is still as beautiful as ever.

Speaking of my child. My daughter was born 36 years ago yesterday, possibly the best birthday present I have ever received. Today she is a mother in her own right having given birth on Saturday to the newest grandson in the family. I wrote about that here. If you've been following my blog, you know how excited I've been and how very, very happy I am to have a new grandson.

But back to my daughter. I was so excited to be pregnant. I was working as a bookkeeper in a food distribution company and was looking forward to being home with my baby. The picture below was taken at Christmas just before my last day of work. I am wearing my one of my bosses' cowboy hat. Fun times.  :)

Abby was a chubby cheeked little chipmunk when she was born. She had red hair and I was so happy for that. I love redheads. Her hair is still red, a dark auburn and so lovely and thick. It snowed the day she was born and there was a chemical leak at a town north of us that got into the public water supply. We stayed at the hospital a few extra days because she was so jaundiced, the doctors didn't want her to leave and we weren't sure about the water quality at home.  I was told I could check out and come back 3 or 4 times a day to nurse. Nope, I decided to stay with her until I could bring her home.

I couldn't find any brand new baby pictures. Here is one of her at 3 weeks.

See the red hair!

And another one at 4 months on a trip to the local zoo with her Mommy. Not a very good one of Mommy.

My Dad didn't want us to take her to the zoo that day. It was in July and very hot. He was worried that she would get sunburned. Turns out she was the only one of us (Mom, my sister, my grandmother, a couple of aunts, I think) that didn't get sunburned. 

My daughter is very special to me. We have had our problems through the years. She has always been determined to do things her way and for a while, didn't even want to listen to someone who might have good advice. But now I can truly say, she is a beautiful, loving, talented and still determined (but in a good way) lady. She will be a wonderful mother. I am so proud of her. Happy Birthday a day late, my beautiful daughter.

Whew, long post and a little bit rambling but that's what happens when you get old. As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you might be.

Hugs,

Sharon