Birthday

Sunday, February 4, 1951. Harry Truman was president, American forces were fighting communism in Korea. A woman had a very large cyst removed from her ovaries, an operation that had never been done before. Also on this day, I was born. It is going to be sixty years. I have seen so many wonderful changes in technology, science, politics,and the world in general. Of course I have seen so many terrible things happen in this world also.
I don't remember much as a child, going to school, comes to mind. I really don't remember before then. My childhood was pretty normal, not too much
drama, only when my Mom would get sick, I can remember being scared, especially when she would cough up blood. We were told she had lung problems.
Fortunately she lived a long life.
I always enjoyed going to school, and I made quite a few friends, whom I still
associate with today, in person and on Facebook. I grew up in a small close knit
neighborhood, where everyone knew everyone. Talk about " It Takes a Village".
That is what it was like, other parents were correcting you when you did make a mistake, and they had your parent's blessing.
Before I knew it I was graduating high school and I had to decide my future.
I went to college for a spell but It was not what I expected. Part of it was me, because I was making good money as a bricklayer, and the other part was college itself. It seemed I was spending money on things I had already learned in high school. There didn't seem to be a challenge, maybe I didn't give it enough time.
The most important decision I made was to marry. I married young and have been blessed with a wonderful wife and two great children. That it seems is the
description for the meaning of my life. Everything I have done, my family has been at the center. I have tried to be a good husband and a very good father.
Time has gone by so quickly and I hope I live as long as my Mom did. There are still things I would like to do and I hope to be able to do them. I still will put my family first, because that is what makes me happy. I have two grandsons, right now and I want to teach them how to make it in this world and show them the importance of family.
I hope to enjoy this birthday and for the first time in my life I am not going to work on that day. It is a little gift I will give myself. Some of us don't like to celebrate their birthday, but I do. It is time to reflect on where we are in life and
if necessary make some adjustments. Even though I am getting old, I know there is still a lot of life to be lived and as long as I have good health, I hope to live it.