Happy Birthday to me! (in about an hour!)
My parents grew up before the 1918 pandemic and each lost family members to that virus, but both must have developed immunity after their initial sickness because it was a multi-year event.
Both grew up on mid-west farms and helped their families by selling produce to whoever would give them a few pennies.
Both served during WWII, my Mom as a nurse and my Dad aboard a naval vessel.
SOMEHOW, me and my 7 siblings got born?!
I’ve now lost half of them and dozens of friends.
Losing family and friends is one of the pitfalls of aging.
There’s no way around it unless you go first.
We “celebrated my birthday early” this evening (Sunday) with more than a dozen family members and friends,
I got two large posters like these…I actually do remember most of this stuff! You may recall a lot of it too?!
There were a couple of crude cards – not for publication here, I guess.
Then there were the mean “old people” cards, including:
“In dog years you’d be dead.” and
“Your birth certificate has expired.”
I got numerous mugs which I’ll hang on to through the next couple of family gathering just so people can THINK they’re the best gift ever,
but GEEZ, we already have too many mugs!!!
Some of them included text such as:
“I’m not 77 I’m 18 with 59 years experience.”
“Old Lives Matter”
“Don’t piss off OLD PEOPLE, the older we get, the less “life in prison” is a deterrent.”
“I used to be young and poor, but with years of hard work, I am no longer young.”
“77 isn’t old if you’re a tree.”
“Reports of acting my age have been greatly exaggerated.”
“I think I’m approaching my “best if used by” date.”
A very nice “FOREVER 29” glass
An “Older than Dirt” baseball cap
Of course having my birthday the day before election day garnered me a couple election themed items including:
A black mug with Trump giving a thumbs up saying:
“You are a great 77 year old.
Maybe one of the best ever.
Very special. Very beautiful.
Really terrific.
Everyone agrees.
Believe me.”
And a birthday card with similar phrasing.
I also got a couple of T-Shirts:
“I’m old, but like cool old.”
“It’s weird being the same age as old people.”
Too much food, too much stuff, but all the fuss was still much appreciated.