I’ll Huff and Puff

I was unsure as to what I wanted to write about today. After blogging for so long and writing so much, it’s difficult to share something new or different from my past or with my recent adventures. I could write about the extremely windy to the beginning of March. In the Midwest, there was so much cold, snow, and wind it was frightening. In the south, it was much more frightening with the deluge of rain and the devastating winds of tornados. Locally, the velocity of the winds has been very blustery.

This past weekend, Saturday especially, winds marked my surprise birthday party day. A very good friend has the same birthday date. I was invited to “her party” with an invitation. I had a spider-sense feeling that it was going to be a joint birthday party or a subterfuge to get me to my own party, so I didn’t sign up to attend. My youngest subtly wheedled until I went with her.

SURPRISE…the party was for me. I think I was less surprised than they expected, it was still a great experience with so many of past and present friends, relatives, and church family attending. The decorations were done with remarkable skill. Many pieces of my past in photographs, cards of my birth, and my clothing from my career as a Navy corpsman, and as a registered nurse were put out on display. There was a slide show of photos from my own childhood, through the courtship with my wife Cindy, the births of our children, and events through the present. One thing I was grateful about was that I no longer had any of the double-knit, bell-bottom pants or the bow ties of the 1960s to display, although they did find one photograph.

The food was flavorful and plenteous with my children as wonderful hosts.

I was overwhelmed with the number of those who attended; relatives, old work mates, fellow writers, and I was blessed to see so many of my church family. In 70 years, a person can meet a lot of people. I am reminded of that each time I sit to write and my party really emphasized that. Thank you to each friend that attended and to my children who worked so diligently to make it a success.