It’s time for another Global Writing Challenge prompt. Our current membership consists of Deb’s World, Suzy Turner, Within a World of My Own, Once Upon a Time, Happily Ever After, Cat’s Wire, Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa, and me. Amy picked this month’s prompt, and I’m guessing it’s because she has a birthday. Guess who else does? Yes, little old me! So, get ready for a little reminiscing. Please do visit everyone’s blogs. I really think everyone does such an amazing job with the different prompts every month. We get a wide assortment of perspectives, too. As we consider ourselves a global group, if you’d like to join us, please let one of us know. We’d love to have more people from all over the planet! There’s also a link party at the end of this post!
If you’d like to join us, here are the prompts for the coming months:
- November – Superstition
- December – Why I Blog
My generation…
Bonus points to you if you sang that! I’ve lived a few years, my friends. I’ve seen the memes listing all the different things my generation has seen. It’s kinda mind blowing when you read them. I, personally, have lived through eight different decades, two centuries, and two millenniums! My dad worked for the phone company so our phone line was free. Long distance phone calls were not. Today, we casually make long distance, cross country and even over the pond calls on our smartphones. My generation (and the ones before it) wrote letters, listened to music on vinyl, cassettes of different kinds, and had to schedule our lives around watching a particular show on television. If you weren’t there for a specific episode, you just missed it. And, our televisions were black and white. We learned how to type on manual typewriters that gave a little ding when you threw the carriage back. We went from knee length skirts to minis as well as maxis that drug in the dirt and frayed from wear. We rode bicycles, powered by our own muscles. We played marbles, checkers, and pick up sticks as well as jacks. We drank water out of the garden hose and lived to tell about it. We grew our own vegetables. We also lived through polio, meningitis, tuberculosis, swine flu, and COVID-19. In addition to all this, we went from computers that took up entire buildings to holding one in our hands. We saw the birth of molecular biology, the discovery of DNA and RNA as well as the rise of gene therapy. We began with an analog childhood and are living in a digital adulthood. “We have faced more change than any other generation in history – and we made it through! To everyone who belongs to this very special generation, congratulations. We are, and will forever be, unique.”
First birthday memories…
When I was a kid, I had a couple of birthdays that stand out. I remember going to my Grandpa and Grandma Rose’s house in Michigan one year. I don’t know if my birthday was during that time or not, but Mom baked me a birthday cake. Grandma’s birthday was also in October so we probably did have a small celebration. I can’t remember the exact colors, but I do know the cake was chocolate. For some reason, green and orange play a huge part in this core memory. I think Mom frosted the cake in orange and decorated it with green. I’m not sure how old I was, but I vividly remember that cake. We didn’t have big birthday parties when I was a kid, but I did have one when I was six years old. And, that’s truly all I remember about that party. I don’t remember who came, what we did, or even what the cake looked like. We never had store bought birthday cakes, but Mom was a really good cook! BTW…this is an AI generated cake and not the one my mom made. It wasn’t near this fancy. She could cook, but decorating was not her forte (just like me)!
A surprise party…
When I was eighteen, my good friend, Kathy, threw me a surprise birthday party. I’d never had one so I didn’t suspect a thing. Nigel delivered me to her house and left. Inside, several of my high school friends were waiting with presents, a cake, and all the trimmings! I won’t forget that afternoon and night, either! I honestly don’t remember celebrating my birthdays after that for several years. Nigel and I worked different shifts for a few years right after getting married. Then, along came the kids. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, money was always a bit tight as I was a stay at home mom. So, birthday parties were for the kids only!
Another surprise party…
When I turned 50, I celebrated with getting a tattoo a few weeks before. I’d always said I wanted one before I hit that milestone. Nigel reminded me of that so when he was in Las Vegas for work, I got one! On my 50th birthday, he took me to my favorite Italian restaurant. The hostess led us to a private room which kinda surprised me. Inside were all my kids, their spouses, and my siblings! My daughter and her husband had driven from Charleston, SC all the way just to celebrate me! I was so happy, I cried buckets! Oh, and I paid the bill!
Smaller parties…
Sixty-five was another birthday celebration with just my small family. Again, we celebrated at a favorite Italian restaurant, and again I paid the bill! Nigel rarely carries his wallet! Last year, I took matters into my own hands and ordered an ornate birthday cake. It was delicious, and I ate quite a bit of it but only after sharing it with my family.
Another milestone…
So, next year is another milestone birthday. I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact I will turn 70 next year. It’s not that I have a problem with turning 70; it’s more I don’t feel like I’ve lived that many years. Does that make sense? So, I guess I’m copying Jodie in that I want to come up with 70 things to do before turning 70. A good friend is doing the same thing. She’s about six weeks older than me so she’s already begun. I’ve got a few ideas, but it’s just about time to start, so throw me some (reasonable) ideas in the comments!
A birthday tradition continues…
Before I end this, I have to write about one tradition in our family. My mom used to call us all early in the mornings on our birthdays and sing “Happy Birthday” in her rather horrible voice! When she passed, I decided that wasn’t going away. I call my people on their birthdays, but not early in the morning, and warble “Happy Birthday” to them in my rather horrible voice! Everyone, from my great-nephews to my little brother, laughs and (almost) always answers!
Thank you!
I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.
What others are saying…
Suzy “writes about the joys and challenges of having a Boxing Day birthday.”
Cat “doesn’t celebrate birthdays, so she had to drag out some ooold memories.”
Sally “Sally considers birthdays and unbirthdays from the perspective of a December girl.”
Amy “loves celebrating birthdays of family and friends and wants to design her own perfect day!”
Leslie “is sharing the birth-days of the 2 babies that made her mommy.”
Debbie writes, “Debbie seems to be attending a lot of birthday parties lately!“
And, now, it’s your turn!
If you’d like to link up your posts about poetry, you may link up here or at any of the other blogs!
Those are some nice memories, thank you for sharing them with us. I hope you’ll add a fantastic one this year and an amazing one next year! Cake for everyone and let someone else pay!
I shall look forward to hearing about your 70 ideas!
This is a lovely post Marsha and I laughed at you paying the bill – I do that too!! I did 65 things before turning 65 last year and it was a fun list so good luck for your 70 list. My husband will turn 70 in January as you’ll see in my post and it will be a fun event I’m sure!
Another great prompt for our group of bloggers!
Loved reading this Marsah. Some wonderful memories. I remember lots of mine are similar xx Jacqui