A day in history......

65 years ago today, I was born. July 1942. The U.S. had joined the Allies in battles against Nazi Germany and Japan. The attack on Pearl Harbor was recent history. My Grandma's favorite actor was Franchot Tone. Anyone remember him? My mother's favorite actor was Clark Gable, destined to be replaced in a year by that young upstart Robert Mitchum. Dad was soon sent off to the Pacific and my Uncle Kenny sent to Europe to do their part in the war.

Except for my grandpa and youngest uncle, the early infancy and toddler years were spent in the company of females. Mom, Grandma, Aunts, and their female friends were my daily role models. Mom and Aunt Maxine raised chickens for eggs and food. Grandma and Grandpa raised a huge Victory Garden and canned the vegetables. All family members at home shared in that bounty. Those were years of rationing -- gasoline, butter, sugar -- because our soldiers needed the rationed items worse than those of us who were safe at home. Citizens in our small town had to be practical and frugal in those times or go hungry. The wage earning men were gone to war. Most women did not work outside the home. So the women in my family did the best they could to keep everyone healthy and fed until their men returned from war.

65 seems old, but in the grand scheme of life it's but the blink of an eye. More than six decades have passed so swiftly I can scarcely believe it. Today I will celebrate those years in contemplation, thinking about the loved ones who are long gone from my life -- Mom, Dad, two sets of grandparents, Aunt Maxine, Uncle Kenny, Uncle Jerome. They made my history what it is today. I'll also give thanks for the family members still with me because they are a large part of my history also.

Happy birthday to me!!