Mom's Birthday: Happy 29th, Mom!

Stuck to the top with Icing for the day!

Mom & Step-Dad - 1977

August 3rd is an odd time in my family. Growing up, that was the time, we learned, when we celebrated our Mother’s birthday. Now that may not sound at all odd to you, but bear with me.

My Father was born on the 10th of October – some years back – and that seemed to us to be just fine. Why? Well, my Sister was born on the 21rst of October. My Little Brother on the 5th of October. Me? Why I was the bestest of all of them! I was born on the 10th of October! I was my Daddy’s Birthday present! (It seems that my arrival interrupted a Pork Roast Birthday Supper my Folks were having. I have always been quite partial to a good Pork Roast!)

Heck, even my Mother’s Mother was born on the 17th of October! Do you see the pattern here? All of us kids were the Children of Autumn, and we liked that! Along with a coinciding taste for German Chocolate Cake that we each pleaded for as our Birthday cake. (Imagine just how enjoyable that was to my Mother! Three German Chocolate Cakes in the space of just over two weeks!)

Now, once we were a tad older, and could do the higher mathematics called for in the equation, we three siblings realized that we were also the products, most likely, of Valentine’s Day! Romantic, no? (“Chuckle, chuckle, very funny!” to quote Dad)

Mom & Step-Dad Visiting benning - 1980

The Strange Hair Summer - 1982

Look what Mom had to put up with! That's benning in the center, Step-Dad to the left, and Little Bro on the right.

Those grins denote something is up, or something naughty has happened, but the Adults have no idea what. This was me attempting to bestow upon Little Bro some of my Smart Ass wisdom on one of my visits home from California. Beyond that, I can claim to credit!

So what the heck was Mom doing with a birthday in the depths of Summer?

Ye Gods! We even have cousins with October Birthdays. So an August Birthday just seemed to be very strange.

But, that’s how it is. Mom was born on August 3rd, a few decades ago. Today marks her 29th Birthday! How she managed to get through the three of us, I cannot say. She confesses that she was much like me growing up. Which is to say a pain in the toches!

The Boys Have Worn Out The Folks - 1977

Neither of us cared for school and the regimented boredom of the classroom. But both of us enjoy learning. And we read - as do my sibs and I and my Step-Father ( a fine man, but his Birthday is even more out of whack!) – everything we can lay a hand on. Mom and I were/are also Clowns. Class Clowns during our school years. Silly-at-times people in our adult years.

No wonder Mom and I had such a contentious time during my childhood (which may end in the future, but Mom ain’t taking any bets on that!) – we were alike! Mom knew most every dodge I’d try, knew what I was thinking (well, sometimes), and knew I was goofing off when I should have been studying.

Mom is a crackerjack cook, though she claims to hate cooking. She makes a Chicken Ala King to die for! She bakes heavenly things for desserts, and has dips that make a supper pointless, they’re so good. Mom has style and grace, dignity and humor.


Big Sis' Wedding - 1978 - The Sibs Clean Up Nice, Don't They?

Best of all, Mom didn’t strangle her eldest Son when he learned to talk (that would be me, the Smart Ass), though some would argue the wisdom of that decision! I love my Mom and I’m grateful to her for her Love and Guidance. If I am anything positive, it is the doing of my Mom and Dad, and my Step-Father. Mostly it’s because of Mom.

Thanks, Mom! I Love You! Happy 29th Birthday!

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And where was Dad? Well, here he is with benning at Christmastime in 1956. He has no idea what a handful I was going to become! Don't they both look awfully young? Dad passed on in 1973.