Who’s Counting!

This 4th of July was very special to me this year.  It marked a very special birthday, although my birthday is actually on the 7th.  When I was little, my folks did not stop work in the summer to celebrate birthdays.  We waited till the weekend or, if a holiday was around the corner, we celebrated on that day.  In July, of course we celebrated the 4th, but my Uncle J. K. Webb and his little sister, my Aunt Charlotte Kelly also celebrated July birthdays.  So our family chose to celebrate for all of us at our annual family reunion.  This was held the third Sunday in July every year for 49 years.  We almost made 50 years of celebrating together.

Of course there was the spread of all spreads, every kind of delectable food imaginable.  I remember a cousin bringing a cherry cream pie that was out of this world and if she didn't have it there she might as well not show up.  She always had to make several as there were some times 75 to 100 people in attendance.

Family reunions have gotten less frequent.  Time, travel, and so many family members that have passed on that we are down to third and fourth generations that are scattered.  Facebook and Email have helped us stay in contact, but less that in time passed.

I remember when I started school, there were only a few of us that had summer birthdays. It was disappointing when other kids got to bring cupcakes or treats on their birthdays, and everyone got to sing to them and have a little party.  But as I got older it didn't really matter because we always had fireworks and ice cream and most of the time a carnival came to town for the 4th of July, and that made my birthday extra special.  I, in fact, thought my birthday was on the 4th till I was a pretty big kid.  So, we still celebrate beginning with the 4th all the way through the month.

My best friend Melba Barnett was born a month to the day after me on August 7th.  We annually prank each other with signs on our gates, or silly surprises, or even sunflowers from the side of the road.  She always calls me an “old lady” for a month then I get to call her “old lady” for the rest of the year!!!   We celebrated our birthdays together from age 2 through elementary school and 2 years of college!  Now what is a friendship!...We raised our families and when Doug and I moved back to the farm  that first summer the pranks began just like we had never stopped.

This year is a milestone for both of us as Medicare kicks in and we both have our AARP cards and Medicare ID cards.  Yep 65 long hot summers ago I was born in far western Oklahoma in a hospital owned by my Aunt’s family.  My grandparents lived on a farm and Mother went home to have me.  We came home to Texas and I've been here ever since.

But who’s counting!  I feel like 25, hope I don’t look 65 or act 65.  I’m too busy living life to count years!  I like being where I am in body, mind and spirit.  I hope that the next 65 years are just as much fun and hey, folks, with medical science, 65 more years is not an impossibility!!!