Tag: Birthdays

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The Joy of Family

In the summer of 2019, our daughter, Darlene, and her husband asked Carol and me to join them for a 5-day vacation in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Our other daughter, Rebecca, and her family came up from Texas, and some dear friends, Charles and Cathy Knoop, trekked from New Mexico.

What’s going on? We found out.

They all gave Carol and me a surprise 53rd wedding anniversary party! At our age, we don’t feed each other, but we tried it this time, and as you can see, we had fun.

We had a great time in Pagosa Springs. Breakfast was on our own; Rebecca, a certified Health Coach for Dr. Sears Wellness Institute, gave us ground-breaking ideas of how to enjoy our retirement years – beginning with proper eating-habits (we began our new eating plan after the ice cream & cake); and nightly dinner was in Charles and Cathy’s condo. What a time we had!

I enjoyed Rebecca’s teaching as a Health Coach. Implementing her information helped me to get down to my target weight. Starting at 183 pounds, I got down to 164, and there’s no special diet. I eat plenty of food, I have more energy, and my clothes fit better. If you would like to hear more about this, email me your interest, and I’ll get you in touch with Rebecca.

Charles and I did what we always did in Pagosa – we went fishing! You can see the joy on his face with this catch. I kept two of the three catfish and all six rainbow-trout I caught. I should tell you: I like to eat catfish, but in the future, I’ll leave the catfish catching & cleaning business to the restaurants. Those critters are difficult to clean! The restaurants also cook them better than I did.

The smallest trout we caught was 14 inches, and the largest was 19. The trout are easy to clean, wonderful to eat, and Carol makes trout-fish sandwiches with the leftovers. I like that better than tuna-fish sandwiches.

One daughter and family lives in Colorado, and the other daughter and family lives in Texas. One son and family moved to California, and another son and family moved to Indiana. But Carol and I don’t plan on moving, so one son here in Arkansas visits us often. We play racquetball and he beats me 95% of the time; but I enjoy the game. Maybe I should mention: the 5% of the times I win are a gift: he humors me by letting me win.

When it was time to part ways in Pagosa, we asked if Serena, Rebecca’s 3rd daughter, could spend a couple of weeks with us. The request was granted.

Carol and I haven’t had small children staying with us for quite a while, and this was a treat for us.

Seven-year-old kids are smart. They know what they want, and endeavor to get it. But Serena is polite, and learned my house-rules quickly. She learned to clean her plate, make her bed, and pick up the toys before bed-time. And it didn’t take long for her to learn to like my Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. She already liked Braum’s vanilla ice cream. I had to make sure I got my fair share of it.

My name for Serena is Bunny, and she calls me the Old Goat. Bunny and I hopped around and had a good time. In fact, we had such a good time that Grandma (Carol) had to settle us down several times.

Bunny likes animals, and surprised Grandma with a palm-sized Anura. That word in Ancient Greek means without tail, and is a frog. There are over 6,300 recorded species of Anurans which amount to about 88% of amphibians today. But even one frog was enough for Grandma. “Keep it out of the house.”

Bunny didn’t talk much around people whom she didn’t know, but she was a talking machine around the house. Bunny also put puzzles together with Grandma,.

The day after we returned Bunny to her parents, the house felt almost empty. In fact, after breakfast, I turned to see if Bunny had picked up her plate – but no Bunny. Carol said, “I miss her, too.”

The joy of family is one of the greatest gifts of God to us. Spend time with your family, and cultivate the loving friendship that only family can give. You’ll be glad you did.

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Birthday Celebrations

Two of my sisters and two of my children were born in November, so let’s talk about birthdays.

You all know the song, “Happy birthday to you.” It’s normally sung as a cake, with lit candles, is brought into the room or placed on the table. Someone hollers “make a wish,” then the birthday-kid – or adult – blows the candles out with one breath. I’ll admit, it’s difficult to get them all with one breath if there are more than 25 on the cake, or if they are trick candles.

Have you ever heard of those? Trick candles usually have magnesium dust in the wick. After the person blows out the candles, a glowing ember reignites the magnesium, and that reignites the residual wax in the wick. I know the trick to blowing them out – and keeping them out – with one breath, but I won’t tell.

Once when 35 candles were on my cake, it set off the smoke alarm!

Happy Birthday, cake, ice cream, presents, noise … where did it all begin? The answer will reveal why some Christians, Puritans as well as contemporary individuals, don’t celebrate them. They consider the festivity as pagan. They saw it as evil, arrogant, and ego-building.

It seems that birthday celebrations began in ancient Egypt. The date of birth was viewed in conjunction with astronomy, hoping “the stars” might predict their future. Also, a Pharaoh re-established his birthdate to when he became Pharaoh, because that’s when the people viewed him as a god.

The ancient people thought that demons were especially active during major events in our lives, so they made loud noises to scare them away. During new year festivities, the noise comes from guns, fireworks, and other means. For birthdays, noisemakers of many types are employed. But they also thought joy and happiness warded off demons, so gifts were given to make the person happy.

Candles might have come from the Greeks as they honored the goddess Artemis. They were lit to glow like the moon, which was a symbol associated with that goddess.  

Various cultures counted birthdays differently. For example. In June of 1969, we spoke with Chief Eagle of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. In the past they didn’t think of years; they counted winters. (The Sioux call themselves the Lakota or Dakota – which means, Our People.)

It appears that the birthday cake, as we know it today, was first invented in Germany for their Kinderfeste, or Children’s Festivity. Creamed ice – I said that correctly – was known as early as the second century B.C. But ice cream might have been invented in the mid-1700s A.D. It’s said that President George Washington spent $200 for ice cream in the hot summer of 1790.

The original tune for “Happy Birthday” was written in 1893 by two sisters (Patty and Mildred Hill), both Kentucky school teachers. Their song was called “Good Morning To All,” and was sung by the students each school morning. But when a child had a birthday, the sisters substituted the lyrics Happy Birthday To You.

September 9 and October 5 compete as the most common birth date in the United States, but February 29, on the calendar every fourth year, is the least common birth date in the world.

The majority of American children celebrate birthdays with a cake topped with lighted candles. Most families use candles to represent how old a person is. When the cake is set before the guest of honor, he or she is supposed to make a wish without telling anyone what it is. After making a wish, he or she tries to blow out the candles. If all the candles go out with one breath, it is believed that the wish will come true.

Birthdays are celebrated more for children than for adults, unless it’s a milestone birthday such as 21, 30, 40, 50, 75, or 100. But have you ever thought about why we even bother to celebrate birthdays? Very simply, it’s a time for friends and family to come together and rejoice with you, to tell you how much you mean to them. Or to congratulate you for surviving another year.

With so many people hurting, feeling rejected, or unimportant, celebrating their life and honoring them is a wonderful way to express your love to them, and tell them how much they mean to you. It doesn’t need to cost much, but it’s important to show your family and friends that you care.