Happy birthdays, anniversaries 2025

After being delayed by colds, we finally got to celebrate two birthdays and two anniversaries at Hyde Park Restaurant. Upper Arlington | Hours + Location | Hyde Park Restaurants | Steakhouse in the US

 

I'm wearing my new birthday jacket from my kids--navy and white

Getting ready for summer

 We've uncovered the deck furniture and washed off the tabletop and chair webbing. Today we enjoyed an early birthday celebration with a friend.  His 90th. His children are throwing a party in June, but it will be the first day of our vacation, so we won't be in town.  The guys met at church in 1967, so that's about 57 years of friendship with Ron. He and his wife whom he met at Upper Arlington high school died four years ago. Dinner was grilled salmon, steamed cauliflower and asparagus, mixed fresh fruit and Key Lime Pie. We actually ate inside because there was a very noisy machine spewing ear splitting sounds across the creek, then after it quieted down we went outside to enjoy the lovely spring weather.

An old, old story

 Social media--e-mail and Facebook and Instagram--will never give you joy in memories 80 years later--those pixels will be long gone (unless you've printed them), and the next time I get a new computer, most of what I saved from my sister, cousin, and friends will be gone. But generations before this had the post office. I've seen the letters that my great-grandfather received from his parents in Pennsylvania after he settled in Illinois in 1848. And until recently when I repacked all my old letters, I had a birthday card from my mother written in 1995 that I would re-read. She died in 2000 so I loved looking at her handwriting.

Sept. 18, 1995

Dear Norma--This card will probably be late for your birthday, so we can look at the date this way.  You were born several days--one or two--early.  Dr. Dumont gave me the hurry-up treatment of castor oil and something on the evening of the 19th so the baby would come quickly and allow him to go on the fishing trip scheduled for the next day.  There was no harm done and one or two minutes before midnight you were on the scene.

Of course, that quick journey  left you a most beautiful baby, not red and wrinkled.  So you became "Peachy" at a very early age and you probably would have had September 20th or 21st as a birthdate!

Happy Birthday, Phil

 Today is Phil's 52nd birthday. We will always miss him. 

 

 

  

  

  

 

On Birthdays

Facebook makes a big deal about birthdays.  And often I forget or overlook those notices, even though many people just love receiving congratulations from people they never see, or often haven’t met. It might be the only time anyone makes a fuss over her or him to make the day really special with images of birthday cakes and balloons.

Father Peter John Cameron, author, editor and playwright, reflected on the birth of John the Baptist (celebrated June 24).  Just in case you don’t know that story from the Gospel of Luke, John was Jesus’ cousin. Their mothers, Elizabeth and Mary, were pregnant at the same time and John recognized Jesus in the womb and leaped for joy:

“The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist is a sacred reminder of the fact that every day I need born in my life:

someone who leaps with joy before the presence of the Lord, who makes me want to live my own relationship with Jesus with greater ardor and fervor;

someone to prepare the way of the Lord and to give me knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of my sins;

someone who turns my attention away from my distractions and preconceptions so that I will behold the Lamb of God as the true desire of my heart;

someone who models for me that there is no greater joy in my life than for Jesus to increase and for me to decrease, especially as regards my self-reliance, my self-assertion, my self-absorption;

someone who is a burning and shining lamp whose radiance gives light to my path and courage to my heart, making me want to live for others;

someone so committed to the truth that he is willing to lay down his life for the Truth-become-flesh—witnessing to me that all true happiness comes through self-sacrifice;

someone whose sanctity proclaims that there is no man born of woman greater than he is, but that I can share his greatness if I love Jesus as he did.”

Twenty years plus

Earlier in January it occurred to me that I should write something on the 20th anniversary of my mother's death, but the 24th came and went and it wasn't until today when I was looking at my bunny coffee cup which was hers, that I recalled it had been twenty years. She died on the 24th of January 2000, her mother on the 25th of 1963 and her father on the 26th of 1968. The bunny cup has a mommy rabbit and eight little brown and white bunnies, and is my favorite cup.  I use it almost every morning.

Today when photos are a dime a dozen and people just whip out a phone to capture the moment, it seems odd that I don't have a photo of the three of them together, except in larger group pictures, like this one from 1949 in Wilmington, Ohio. Grandpa is between his older sister, Alice (b. 1870), and grandma, and then my mom.  My brother Stan and I are squinting in the sun. I'm wearing my most favorite dress of all time--it's yellow, but only I can tell when I look at the photo.  We were on our way to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, but stopping along the way to visit and spend the night with relatives. As I found out years later from talking with Mother, this was not a happy trip--my grandparents were trying to find out information on the death of their son who died in 1944 in WWII. My mother who was doing the driving was suffering debilitating headaches and my brother got sick from the heat.  But, being only 10, it all went over my head and I remember the highpoints with relatives, the tourist spots and the ocean.

 Uncle Edwin Jay, who apparently took the photo, was president of Wilmington College from 1915-1927.  (I looked through the website for Wilmington College and found this about his 12 years there: "The so-called "period of expansion" occurred under the leadership of President J. Edwin Jay, under whose tenure Lebanon Normal University merged with Wilmington College and teacher training was introduced into the curriculum.")  I think he probably died in 1964 and may have been 95, but I have no idea what he did between 1927 and 1964. He and I corresponded, and we never discussed his life. If his writings and letters are archived where he taught, there will be a group from a teen-ager in Illinois.

 

A nice birthday week

Today my friend of 45 years, Nancy, and I went out for lunch at the OSU Golf Club, and I’d had a hair cut and style with Melissa earlier, so I felt good.  We both had the quiche.  Our condo association had Monday and Tuesday set aside for drive way/street resurfacing, so we’d all been doing a little extra walking, since everyone’s cars were parked in the parking lot of the church next door.  Fortunately, the weather was bright and sunny, and except for wet shoes in the morning, it all went well.

I'd been carrying 2 Barnes & Noble gift cards in my purse for a year, so today I stopped in and purchased, "A Republic, if you can keep it," by Neil Gorsuch, (2019) and "Call sign Chaos" by Jim Mattis, (2019). I rarely buy books, but these looked like keepers. In fact, I think it was Hugh Hewitt who said the Mattis book would still be read 100 years from now. I doubt that, but in today's environment a few months would be good.  So I’m calling them a present to myself, even though I think I got the cards for Mother’s Day.

But the big splurge, not intended for birthday, but coincided is a new car.  We now have a white Chrysler Pacifica Touring L with heated seats and steering wheel and all the latest gadgets for safety and audio.  It’s going to take a while to learn all the new features, like keyless entry and start and the motor turning off at stop signs.

Then Saturday evening we’re going out with our daughter and son-in-law to try a restaurant in Grandview.

260th party for Robert Burns

Bobby Burns parties have been celebrated on January 25 since 1801, the 5th anniversary of his death.  So with the rest of the world last night we celebrated with Dave and Donna who have such a party each year.  With many others (I think we were a total of 17) we sat around their table and enjoyed a lovely dinner, telling stories, reading poetry and singing.  I got to wear my “new” kilt.

Birthday greetings?

Happy Birthday, Carol

Happy 81st birthday to my sister Carol who died in 1996 at 58. We still miss you. Photo is 1989 with her daughter and son. Recently we got to meet her great granddaughter who visited us at Lakeside with her grandparents. What a treat. Carol was the only one of my family with any fashion flair, and loved beautiful clothes, bright colors, stylish purses, shoes and jewelry. As an enterprising teen, she sold Avon products. Although her primary career was in nursing with a degree from Goshen College, she did own a dress shop in Bradenton, FL.

 

Never a snowflake, after high school graduation in 1955 Carol went into Brethren Volunteer Service and did incredible tasks for one so young, like doing church plant surveys in Denver, helping with clean up after flooding in Pennsylvania, teaching Sunday School and leading worship in Kentucky where she road horseback to services because there were no passable roads, and being a "healthy volunteer patient" aka guinea pig at NIH in Maryland. I wonder if she is one of the results cited in this article.  https://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/about/news/newsletter/2007/oct07/newsletter.html  

She was a survivor of childhood bulbar polio and struggled with many health issues, but cared for many as a home health nurse in her last years.

Birthday greetings from Alaska

My cousin Gayle is such a faithful events greeter, and when the family lived in Alaska, we would be treated with colorful postcards and a personal note.  These three I found in the box I was clearing out today--one from the 70s, 80s and 90s: Kasilof, Fairbanks, and Angoon. Since she reads my blog, this is a special shout out to her.

Monday Memories--Happy Birthday to me

What a great birthday dinner Saturday night. I set the table with china, and my daughter and son-in-law brought in a fabulous lasagne dinner from Bravo (I'd never eaten there) with appetizers, salad, garlic bread and wine. There were enough left overs for Sunday night. Then on to my presents, and updating my fall wardrobe with 3 shirts and 2 vests in mix and match. These two love to shop, and spent a lot of time on colors and outfits, and I get the benefits. She knows my skin color and tastes better than I do, because I usually just shop by price. Even an OSU Buckeye colors outfit, scarlet and gray; set for me to wear on game days (I'm not much of a sports fan but I did watch a football game about 5 years ago).

Jeanne's 80th Birthday Party

I mentioned I was planning to attend a 50s theme party, but didn't say for whom because is was an elaborate surprise.  Our niece Joan in Indianapolis notified us a year ago to save the date, February 20, for her Mom's birthday party.  And she really pulled it off.  Her step-sister Susie and her daughter Tammy flew in from Florida and her Mom's half sister came from California, and of course, we and our children drove from Ohio. Joan has 8 grandchildren, and some of Bob and Jeanne's other children have children, so it was a huge crowd, including church friends.  Seeing a photo (after the event) of Jeanne lovingly holding the newest great grandchild who was a few weeks old, made me think that this is the sort of welcome we'll have in heaven.

Joan really worked on the 50s theme; there was a backdrop of a 50's style diner for taking photos, the cupcakes were decorated like little sodas, we had hamburgers and hot dogs and French fries for our buffet, and little soda glasses for party favors. There was a pianist for appropriate music, balloons, and decorations. Joan had a poodle skirt made for her mom, and saddle shoes (she had told her she was taking her to a 50s theme diner for lunch). 

Joan, who planned it all, with her Mom

The siblings, Bob, Jeanne, and Debbie

Phoebe and Mark with Aunt Jeanne

Bob and Jeanne, high school sweethearts and married about 45 years

My sisters-in-law with me (my real 1950s blazer)

  72 degrees, could sit on the patio, all the children could run

Most of the grandchildren, some with spouses

 Bob and Norma in authentic 50s attire

 Cute cupcakes for dessert

Debbie and Bob

Bob and Jeanne jitterbug

Happy birthday to my bouncing baby boy

From the first day he’s kept our life interesting and lively. He’s got the curly hair and long legs I’d love to have. Smart as a whip and intellectually stimulating.  Loves to talk politics with mom.  The light in the corner is probably his guardian angel checking in.

Monday Memories—first and second birthdays

With two birthdays and a national holiday falling within the same week, it used to be sort of hectic the 3rd or 4th week in November. There was awhile when we did a lot of togetherness; now we get together on Thanksgiving, and possibly a separate night out if anyone is free.  This photo is their first co-birthday (12 months and 3 days apart).  I think as soon as I let go of Phil he went into the cake with both hands.  It was a party at Aunt Jeanne’s in Indianapolis and many people came.

Bush 41 is 89 today

In his honor, people are wearing loud, outrageous socks.

Happy Birthday

Easter was a two-fer. Sometimes Thanksgiving is a Three-fer, since we have two birthdays that week. It's always the same question. "What shall I get for Dad?" " He wants a Dick Blick gift certificate." "I always get him that!" So I suggested that his summer print knit shirts were getting a bit shabby (probably 10 years old at least). "Oh Mom, the prints are no longer in style--it's all plain or stripes now!" So this summer, Lakeside will be shocked to see my husband in some new shirts! If it weren't for our daughter keeping tabs on fashion trends, we'd both look like yesterday's mashed potatoes.

We're eating apple pie in the photos (sugar free), but the "cake" is in the center of the table--Cheryl's Cookies, Sugar-Free in a wrapped birthday box. They are quite good.

The perfect birthday card

Sometimes it's just not worth it. I look and look and look. Some cards are so not true. When my dad was alive it was virtually impossible to find a good card--sailboats and golf clubs were just not him. I always look for the right words after I find the right art. This week was my son-in-law's birthday. He's not the home made card type--and I do many of those with my own art. So the hunt was on. Finally, I found it. The art was just awful--bad colors, yucky graphics, but the text fit.
(on the front)
Son-in-law
Strong
Good-hearted
Intelligent
Real
Beyond amazing

(inside)
It means so much
to have someone like you
in our family.
Hope you know
how much you're loved
and appreciated.
The four of us went out to eat at our favorite sports bar and caught up (at least my daughter and I did--the guys probably talked sports). She's doing such an amazing job on her treadmill exercise routine--but hurt her tendon on the recent vacation trip, so we're taking over my exercycle today (which is gathering dust) so she can get aerobic but not put pressure on her foot. I don't know how many dress sizes she's dropped but at least four, and all through the discipline of regular, intense exercise. She was dangerously close to being a diabetic, and all her labs are normal now. She's such an inspiration, I'm even wearing my sweats and athletic shoes to go for a walk (on our new sidewalk) after coffee. It's takes a lot to get me to exercise, and to appear in public dressed this way.

And I apologized for the poor art work--He did like the sentiment.

We no longer have this couch, so I'm guessing ca. 2005

We look like a Hallmark card

my husband said this morning. "The table is set with the good china, you're preparing food in the kitchen, and I'm putting up the Christmas tree." Celebrating birthdays tomorrow, so I'm getting the food ready today so that we can all go to church. Usually, this doesn't happen, but each year I can hope. It's pretty awkward. I go to church at 7 a.m. to pray, my husband ushers at the 8:15, and then we are all supposed to meet up for the 11 a.m. traditional service. Then it's back to the house for dinner. This year, we hope that 1) everyone gets to church on time, and 2) my husband can keep them busy decorating the tree while I put everything in the oven to warm up. It's sort of like eating leftovers since everything except the meat is prepared today. Here's the menu:

Boneless pork roast with orange sauce
dressing with apples, bacon and onion
buttered, spiced carrots
mashed potatoes
scalloped corn
pumpkin pie with whipped cream
I tried a new scalloped corn recipe--the kind you make with a corn muffin mix. I used to make it from memory, but the memory's shot. Not sure how that is going to work out--it sort of looks like a cake. My husband hates corn so the only time I fix it is when there will be someone else to eat it. And bacon. No matter what brand I buy it seems so tasteless. Has anyone else noticed this? It never gets crispy and yummy--just lies there and takes up space. Is it low-cholesterol pigs? Too many antibiotics and hormones? I wish they'd stop messing with our food. Maybe it's just my taste buds. They are my age, after all, and probably wearing out.

When I looked on the internet for a corn recipe, and bunches of happy cooks were contributing theirs (all with canned corn), of course one of the grow-your-own vegans drops by and insults everyone by saying she would never eat that garbage, but "y'all have a good day." Don't you just hate that on bulletin boards? Everyone's chatting and exchanging ideas and being so friendly, and then Mrs. Poo Poo I'm better than You chimes in.

Fall 1971, probably taken for birthdays

Our son has been battling a cold, and possibly the flu, so we may be a very small group. He's dragging to work, and then goes home and goes to bed. He never eats much, but at least I can send home the left overs. My cold seems to be undercover for now with the Zicam and the Clariton and extra sleep. At least, it hasn't gotten to that stage yet where I'd call it a cold.

Entering the fall back season

This is the time of year I dread; "spring forward, fall back" when Americans all get an extra hour of sleep. Tonight we change our clocks. My super organized hubbie will have them all changed by 7 p.m. tonight. I already wake up about 4 a.m. which is why you see such early times on my blogs and e-mails. Why would I want to get up at 3 a.m.? It used to take me about a week or so to adjust, now I don't adjust. I'll just be waking up at 3, changing rooms, turning on pbs and getting disgusted with all the nonsense that we pay for from government grants to support leftist film/docu losers. (PBS is the only channel that works in the guest room.)

Then it's my squirrely eating--as cold weather comes on, I get hungrier. But because its cold, I walk outside less. I lost about 20-30 lbs in the summer of 1960, it was my freshman 10 which grew during my sophomore and junior years. Dimples appeared where I'd never seen them. At that time I had a bit of a sweet tooth. I completely gave up candy and sweets and really had no problem with that until recently (salty snacks became my choice) when I discovered how tasty canned frosting was, and how much was left over after making brownies or a cake. Now I don't even wait to bake something; I just open the can.

Also this is consumer season squared at our house. Consumption drives 72% of the American economy, and most retailers make it on the Christmas season, even if political correctness keeps the word out of the ads. The catalogs--Harry and David, L.L. Bean, Cheap Joe's, FLW Foundation, etc. have been coming through the mail slot for a month. But it's worse at our house--from late October through Christmas we have three birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each year we say it won't be like last year's, but there are the homemade cards (one of my husband's paintings usually, but those aren't cheap to produce), the special seasonal gift appeals--all for good causes--like food pantry, Lutheran Social Services and Samaritan's Purse, a little bit of entertaining, eating out more, perhaps a drive to Indianapolis to visit family, the donations to our kids' IRAs, the presents from the catalogs that my husband buys for his relatives without letting me know (he loves surprises, I don't), and all those last minute sales that beckon. Really cuts into the resolve.

So how do you handle the season?