Another Child's Birthday

Forty Two years ago today my first child was born. She came into this world about 9:30a.m. She weighed 9lbs 3 ozs and was 21 inches long. After posting pictures of her younger sister, she warned me that if I posted pictures of her, I would be headed straight for Greene Acres(that's the nursing home she constantly threatens me with). She didn’t really want any acknowledgement of her birthday, so after you read this, it will self-destruct.

She was a good baby, easy to take care of, and always pleasant. I was blessed with three babies that soon slept through the night and the first two never had colic or any of the things that so many babies have.

I was very young when I had her, so I think we grew up together. She was two when her baby brother came along, and I grew up with both of them.

She had fun in school, was a cheerleader, played basketball and softball, and had three friends with whom she seemed to be joined at the hip. They even took a truck on a joy ride when they were about 14. She was the driver. I don’t know if she’d ever driven before, but she and her three friends went to the store one Sunday afternoon to get some candy, and on the way home met the local policeman. When they met him, she(the driver) ducked and he met a vehicle that seemed to have no driver.

I don’t even remember if he stopped them, followed them home or what, but they got into trouble. Fortunately, there was no jail time involved, and no damage done to their permanent records. Just a little trouble sitting for a while.

We lived in a small town during a time when the kids were free to roam around town and not have to worry about them getting hurt, kidnapped or shot. You know, kids just didn’t shoot kids back then. I think about To Kill A Mockingbird when I think about the times my children grew up in. It was a much simpler time back then. I grew up on a farm and roamed the entire width and length of it, and the woods beyond it. And even though my children grew up in town, they were pretty much free to roam the width and length of it.

They knew that if they did anything wrong, I’d hear about it. Someone would rat them out, and they’d get in trouble. They rode bikes, played in the park and probably did a lot of things I didn’t know about, and still don’t want to know about.

She now has two boys of her own. One is over 21, and the other is 11. She is and has always been a good mother. I love the child she was and the woman she has become(except that find a death thing she does on the internet) That’s a little weird.

What kind of freedom did you have as a child that is gone with the wind? Wouldn’t it be nice to go back to those days?

Enjoy your Friday. Love one another.