Birthdays

This week my oldest grandchild is having her 27 Th B'day. Birthdays have always been a reason for celebration in our family. A time when we all got together and shared our collective love for one and another.

When I was a child my B'day came shortly after Xmas so there was not much fuss. One birthday when I was nine years old I really wanted to have a special recognition or something or maybe I just craved attention. There were nine children and Mom and Dad living in our house.

and plenty of activity and you could easily be missed when attention was handed out.

This particular year my good friend and I had constructed a livable fort down in the Pond Woods. We had everything we needed to have comfortable stay here but be only had slingshots and bows and arrows for hunting. We did snare sometimes but other than the fish we caught there was little action. We roasted potatoes on the fire and they tasted great once you got through the blackened outer shell. What I needed was a Red Ryder bb gun.

Mom was against such things but I was making a good case saying I could shoot rats that were in our stable and so on. I might as well talk to the wall. There was no way. As Jan.5 came and went I received the traditional cake and that was all.

Unknown to Mom and Dad my comrade and I knew a fellow who owned a single shot 22. He used to see us down by the pond and he would be shooting shorts into the water. I had money from my paper route and offered four dollars for the gun and ammo. He gladly gave it up and we kept in in our hut. Let me tell you that everything was safe because that gun shot more crocked than the hind leg of a dog.

I made up my mind that when I had children every B'day would be special and mostly they were. For my part my family always made my B'day special and I have been spoiled by family and friends over the years. I now measure my years by the age of my children and grand children. I love birthdays, every one even if it tells me I am growing old.