Best day of the year

 

 

For as long as I can remember, today has always been a special day.  It was on this date in history that Yours Truly arrived on this planet, and the world has never been the same since!

Being a summer baby was always fun, because I never had to go to school on my birthday.  But I never got a school party, either.  Except for the summer I turned 13 and went to summer school, and my mom surprised me with a big baseball birthday cake (I was a huge Dodger fan).

I rarely got a party with friends, either, probably because it was too hard to contact any classmates, and there usually weren't many neighborhood friends.  So it's easy to remember my ninth birthday, when we lived just down the street from the local park, and I had a hobo party, where everybody was supposed to dress up, and we cooked hotdogs on a stick.  It apparently was memorable enough that I gave my own daughter the same kind of party for her ninth birthday!

Yes, picking berries on crutches

So no parties, but no sitting in a classroom, either!  Hmmm, which is better?  As I only remember not having to go to school and don't think of not having parties, I think I know the answer for my personality.

The birthday right after I got married, the mountain roads were full of ripe wild blackberries.  We had a tradition for several years of picking them, something I had never done before, being a city girl. 

Then I made a birthday pie instead of a cake, which is how I discovered I had no cookbooks that first summer and had no clue how to make a pie.  My wonderful Southern neighbor gave me a recipe that first year, and I had my own cookbook by the following year!

Legal in Florida

 

I never got to turn a legal adult.  At 18, I still had to get family permission to get married.  By 21, the law had changed, I don't even know when, I just got cheated out of the big day.

Never fear, circumstances allowed me my first trip to Florida, and I had a great celebration anyway!

Thanks, Sandi

Results of my first half century of life

When I hit the big 4-0, Doc Leo was in Europe, the movers were boxing up our whole household for our big move to France, so my 18-year-old daughter bought me a fancy balloon and took me out to dinner.

I threw myself a big party in Paris for my 50th, which included my American based daughters and grandson and locally based son.

Whenever life just seems to get in the way, as seems to be the case more and more, I always know that August 2 is my day, something that can never be taken away from me, and I always celebrate me whether anybody else does or not.  This year, my other half celebrated me with breakfast in bed, including a special cup of flavored coffee, whipped cream and all!

The weekend is off to a great start.