Woo Hoo! I'm OLD!

I am fond of saying "There have been more changes in daily life between 1900 and today...than there were from the beginning of recorded history to 1900." I'm also fond of saying, (in a sing-song-y voice), "Now, when I was a girl....." Because when I WAS a girl, times were very different. We didn't have a television until I was 10 years old (very few of our neighbors had them). We had one telephone and the number was Pleasant 0026. We listened to programs on the radio. (I STILL LOVE YOU, SGT. PRESTON!!) I remember crying when Mom told me "Baby Snooks is dead". Well...actually Fanny Brice was dead, at the age of something like 89, but I thought she was the little kid on my favorite radio show, and I was horrified; it hadn't ever occurred to me kids could die.

There is one day I don't remember. February 9, 1943.

World War II was raging, and Minot, North Dakota was on "war time" - similar to Daylights Savings, I believe. At St. Joseph's Hospital, around 11:00 pm, I was born!

My dad was City Editor of the Minot Daily News; Mommy was a skillful homemaker, and my sister was six years old. Observe: Mommy looks delighted; I look goofy dubious. NOTE: clicking on these pictures will make them bigger, but also fuzzier. Combination of inferior film during the War and inexpert use of 21st century digital photography (I took pictures of the pictures.)

Frankly, I can't imagine my sister being very tickled to have a little sister - and six years' difference is considerable when you're little kids. We didn't have much togetherness growing up - but she is a great Big Sister, and now as Ladies of Advancing Age, I'd say we're more connected than ever before.

Here we are, my sister Toni and I. Very few of my future sterling qualities can be seen in this picture - although I'd have to say that I seemed to be channeling Dumbo was just MADE for being a good listener. May I add, I've grown into those ears. Truly. Incidentally - oops the Lovely Daughter says I overuse that word frightfully - by the way , Toni has a natural gift for style and decorating, inherited from Mom. It's not just that she's good, it's a gift. She has "an eye", or "the touch".

I've mentioned my interior decorating before (sort of a Hippie Eclectic); my legacy was more related to the bookish bent of the family.

So - as I sit here, at my wonderful laptop computer, watching my nice color teevee, surrounded by two cats, a very comfortable yarn stash, a very respectable library, and My Perfect Husband (OK, so the third time IS the charm; I can't imagine what I ever did to have the karmic gift of Mr Dearling, no kidding!) I have memories of Oofen Blotz, my childhood kitty; a mommy who taught me to knit in 1950; a daddy who instilled in me a deep love of the Written Word and a big sister who taught me to walk and swim, among other things.

My three children (whose births I even enjoyed, hippie Earth Mother that I was) are clever, creative, loving, honest people. I'd like them a real lot even if they weren't my very own punkies. I've pretty much enjoyed my jobs through the years, all some form of secretarial work; I actually LIKE the tactile sensation of typing.

You were right, Mr Johnson, it WAS a good idea to study Typing in 11th grade, so I'd have a saleable skill. Thanks bunches.

So, I view this as really the Last Milestone Birthday. (Well, of course hitting "the big 1-0-0" would be one, but that's perhaps iffy.) Mr Dearling and I are going in Monday to apply for my Social Security, because I CAN! And now, ladies and gentlemen, I am entitled eligible for all those Old People Benefits; I've gotten some since I was 62, but now I REALLY get the lot. I happen to think that's very cool, and if the occasion should arise, I will not hesitate to lay about me with an umbrella shouting "Get outta my way, Sonny!"

But seriously, folks, it has resulted in some pondering. For example - being as it IS a milestone, I thought about planning a birthday party to mark it. (I haven't really had birthday parties, even as a kid.) But -- I couldn't decide what sort of party to have, or where to have it, and anything of a flashy nature tends toward the spendy; the plan instead is to have my kids and THEIR kids over tonight for a Pizza Picnic in the living room.

NOTE: Hog-and-Bloggers, cover your eyes for a moment.

I'm thinking I'll take some cake or a pile of cupcakes to the next Late Night Knit by way of celebration, to share with the knitterly sorts.

OK, Hog-and-Bloggers, you can read again.

It seems that THIS birthday should have Resolutions with it, like New Years. So I've actually made a few, and thought of some Things I Would Like to Do Before I Die (nope, haven't seen "The Bucket List" yet, but the idea intrigued me!).

Laura Ingalls Wilder was first published at the age of 65! So I'm going to try to accomplish that this year. I'm going to literally go through ALL my books and cull the ones that I really don't want to keep. (I realized that there ARE such beasts the other day, and that may be the first step toward the General Purge and Tidy to which I've aspired for a couple of years.) Some of the books are going to The Sow's Ear, our favorite LYS, which has a couple of Help-Yourself bookcases for novels and so on; some are going to collections in senior centers; some can go to the hospital collection and some are going to Goodwill. (Don't knock it, there are GOOD books there - I'll have to donate when it's closed or I'll come back with different books and possibly more of them than I'm donating.)

I would like to learn ASL, polish my knowledge of Indian Sign Language, and study basic French. I mean to try to improve my knitterly skills and abilities. I am also going to start NOW and work diligently to improve my storytelling repertoire and skills.

Things I'd like to do before I die? Oh....see Cirque de Soleil, spend two weeks in autumn at the Mohonk Mountain House, go to a writers' or storytellers' convention somewhere maybe.

HowEVER! My pizza party is just a couple of hours away, so I'm going to shovel out pick up a bit in the living room to prepare.

Just think! I HAVE achieved the Knitterly Stereotype: I'm an old lady, sitting in my rocking chair and knitting while cats play about my feet......honestly? I feel a genuine CACKLE coming on!