About Birthdays – 2005
Over the week end we attended a 90th birthday celebration and this got me thinking about how my birthdays have been celebrated over the years. At this particular party we celebrated in the beautifully decorated Fellowship Hall at our church — food was plentiful and delicious. Of course, we got to see lots of friends we seldom see. At our table we enjoyed having a man who had accompanied us when we eloped some sixty years ago. There’s always something to laugh about when he is in the crowd. Needless to say, we shared some tall tales which brought on lengthy bouts of laughter. Haven’t you heard that a good laugh is worth as much as a dose of medicine? If that’s true, we should be well this week!! Aren’t old friends wonderful?
When I grew up here on the Windy Knoll – we lived in isolation, to say the least. No electricity, no telephones and for lots of years no car. The farm was surrounded by trees and my siblings were gone from home by the time I was old enough to remember, plus there were no close neighbors. The nearest thing I had to a sibling was my dog and we spent lots of time together – perhaps that’s the reason I’m such a dog lover today. One dog – Mickey – and I spent lots of time sprawled out on the grass just watching the white thunderheads slowly drift by or watching birds fly over and wonder where they were going and what they could see from their vantage point. I still had Mickey when John came on the scene. That dog hated John! Anyway, there was nobody here to celebrate a birthday with me – save my parents. I have a summer time birthday and I always had a cake – iced with white frosting – the seven-minute variety – the cake had pink candles (saved from one year to the next) and Mother surrounded the cake with live Touch-Me-Not blossoms. I have no memory of a birthday party as a youngster. After we moved to Marietta, Georgia I was given a surprise party in the housing project where we lived, but by then I was an adult. Yes, we lived in a housing project – there were such a few places to live back then – it was 1951 and Lockheed Aircraft has just activated the old Bell Bomber Plant. Lots of water has passed over the dam since then.
In our family we have some what I think is unusual birthdays. Both our girls were born on November 8th – eight years apart. Planning? There was none!! We used to have family celebrations for their big day, but now that we are separated by several miles, we just talk on the phone – cell phones at that!! It’s cheaper that way!
I’m told I attended a surprise birthday party of an elementary school friend one time; however, I don’t remember that. My friend lived with her grandmother – near the school – and she surprised her grandmother on her (the child’s) birthday by taking some little girls home with her from school for a party. Of course, the grandmother was caught off guard and had to send for an aunt, who was in the field picking cotton. Auntie walked to Geraldine, bought ice cream for the party, then walked home and served the 8 and 10 year old guests. Some surprise party, huh? A surprise for Grandmother!
Birthday celebrations then and now have lots of differences. John doesn’t remember birthday celebrations either – he says birthdays just passed without much mention. Today little folks can’t have a birthday without some big to do. I know a four-year-old in my area who just celebrated a birthday with a big bash in a gym – the building was rented for a time so they could have privacy as they swam! What will they do to celebrate this child’s birthday when she’s a teenager? That little girl already has so many toys she doesn’t know which one to play with. I understand she even has a golf cart! I didn’t get a golf cart until I was an old lady – by then my knees were so painful I could hardly walk. Times are different!!
The ringing of the telephone interrupted the writing of this column, but I like getting that kind of call. This lady was reading my new book, MORE TALES OF COUNTRY LIVING, and she called to tell me how much she had enjoyed a certain article. The title of the article is A Tour of a Market and the market I talk about carries lots of products and produce that we didn’t even know existed. Harry’s Market caters to foreigners and it is different! The caller and her husband used to be truckers and for years they delivered fresh produce to Harry’s — a market we often visited when we lived in Georgia. Its interesting how one article interests one person and the same article means nothing to another. I’ll be out and about with book signings on the book – sure hope you can come out to visit with me. I love to talk – especially with my readers! This, too, is part of country living.