Let the wild rumpus begin!

When I get older
Losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine?
Birthday greetings?
Bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me?
Will you still feed me?
When I'm sixty-four?

You'll be older, too,
And, if you say the word,
I could stay with you ....

First verse of the song by the Beatles 


Some people make resolutions for the New Year. I'm not one of those people. I make resolutions on my birthday, which is a very good day to have a birthday, by the way. It's just far enough past Christmas that I never got cheated on gifts. And, it's far enough before Lent and Easter, so I never got cheated on gifts. (I still feel bad for those folks whose birthdays fall between December 24 and January 2.)

This year the theme is "When I'm sixty-four."
So, here is a list of the things I will accomplish while I'm sixty-four:

1. Print a book filled with 64 photographs by me. I will title it, "When I'm sixty-four." I hope it will be mostly portraits of people I know, but a few cat and dog photos will probably sneak in there.

2. Whittle my voluminous doll collection down. I have too many, my collecting habits have changed, and it's time to sell and give away at least 64 of them, sending them off to adventures with others.

3. Write 64 blog entries. Sounds easy, doesn't it? There are 365 days in the year, which breaks down to one blog entry every 5.7 days. That's more often than once a week, you know. Sometimes I have weeks go by when I can't think of anything to write about, so this one will be a real challenge. I need a good challenge though, so let's have at it, shall we?

Three things is enough, I think.
Besides, I still have three more days until my birthday!

Let the wild rumpus begin!

My Parents Were Born on the Cusp ...

The Cusp for Gemini/Cancer is June 19 to June 23. My mother's birthday was June 19. My dad's was June 21. My dad was nine years older than my mother and he had been married once before. He was in the U.S. Army when they met at Fort Lee, Virginia when my mother was 23-years-old.

My mother on her wedding day.

My mother used to say she met my dad on the dance floor. My Aunt Evelyn had danced with him first, then he asked my mother for a dance. My Aunt Evelyn said he never danced with another woman again that she knew about.

Their marriage was full of passion. I'm sure about that. My brother and I often observed the knock-down-drag-out brawls from a distance and, somehow, we knew it wasn't about us. It was about them. My mother was a social butterfly if one ever existed, and very opinionated! My dad was introverted and thoughtful and very, very smart. That made for some great arguments about politics at the dinner table, too!

After their brawls, they would make up, and we didn't get to see that. They would tell us they were going to have a private conversation and they would go in their bedroom, close the door and turn on the radio. We usually took that for a sign to go outside and play. We didn't care what they were doing. We were kids. We were just glad they weren't fighting anymore.

My dad on his wedding day.

Being born on the cusp must mix things up. That's the only thing I've been able to figure out after all these years. I'm not sure how much influence the position of the sun and moon and stars has on us as human beings, but, I have long believed that was why my mom and dad had such a turbulent relationship. The generations weren't so different back then (1949) as they are today. Where they had seen World Wars and a new prosperity arrive in America during my parents' lifetimes, ten years between a man and woman can mean a lot more in these modern times. Depending on when we were born, we would have listed to different music, used different technologies, watched different movies and TV shows ... these experiences, as shared by each generation, create a bond between the people who lived through it. To have an intimate relationship with someone who didn't listen to, say, the Beatles, or who didn't see the movie, "The Graduate," might mean they won't understand the perspective of those of us who did. All of these experiences have an impact on our thinking and our expectations and are a part of us and who we become. I think that's why a lot of May-December marriages don't work out nowadays.

But, then, that's just my opinion.

Happy Birthday, Mom and Daddy, wherever you are. I'm hoping that you're together in heaven. You're buried next to each other here on Earth!