Fifty One

Ta-daaa!

Yep, that's me.  And my (great) uncle Marvin.

We shared a birthday... separated by 50 years.

So I'm now the age he was in these photos.

I have more hair than he did ;D

I don't actually remember the party.

(I was ONE, you know.)

But I've seen the photos so many times,

I kind of feel like I do.

I see my aunt Lucille, my uncle Delmar, and my grandma Margaret -
sisters to Marvin, four of nine siblings.
And my dad's cousins - Bob and JoLeigh,
and Marcia, Margo, Marvette, and Marvin Junior.
(No.  Not kidding.)
And my cousins - Brad, Brett, and Jim - probably helping me open my presents :D

We met at a neighborhood park.

My mom must have taken us there a lot when we were kids.

I remember the HUGE (to little eyes) swings and

the REALLY TALL slide.

Today's safety-n@zis would never approve.

Not sure if that's my mom's hands holding me, or my grandma's,
but right above the wrist with a bracelet is the lot where my parents would soon build a house.
The house I grew up in.
Right next to the lake :D

So, yes, today is my birthday.

Ta-daaa :D

Kerry took me out to breakfast.
Wasn't that sweet?
He offered lunch,
but I had a pot roast to cook for dinner,
and I wanted to be hungry for it,
so breakfast it was.

I'm happy to have a low-key birthday at home
with my grasshoppers.
Because on Sunday we have The Big Party.
Christmas in June.
Five dads.
Seven birthdays.
One high school graduate.

Got all that?

Like I said,
Christmas in June.

Rockin' out in our back yard,
with my dad's work clothes drying on the line.


I feel like Jeff Foxworthy could have a field day with this photo,
taken at my grandparents' house ;D

I guess my mom (on the left) is encouraging me to ride that bear.
She wasn't raised that way, but she adapted ;D

And here's my dad.
How does he look so impossibly young?!

Well, I suppose he was pretty young.
My parents married at 20 (mom) and 21 (dad),
and had me about a year later.

So, yah, pretty young.

And me?
No, I wan't up to any mischief at all.

Why do you ask?