Birthdays are significant only because they serve as benchmarks of our life. I guess “round” numbers like 70 should release bells, whistles and balloons. Hmmmmm!
I get questions like what would you like for your birthday? I want quiet days, cool nights and a warm breeze!. I want a rickety old Ford pick-up truck, a loyal egg sucking dog, and a jug of watermelon wine. I want my “stars and signs” to align perfectly with the universe to produce unbelieveable happiness. I want simple things!
The early years of my life were spent near the poverty level. My mother would get us fed and dressed in the morning and proceded to usher us out the door. Sometimes we didn’t come home until supper time. We played basketball on the local blacktopped school playground. We waded in the dirty mullet creek with our shoes on at the “Little Park”. We would catch crabs and pull their pinchers out. We caught frogs that we would take home with us. We wandered the “Meyer Woods” on the edge of town and actually got lost a few times.
When we came home late in the day we looked kind of scrufty and raggity. We would have mud on our denim pants, holes in our water ravaged shoes and sweatshirts filled with thistles. I think my Mom’s words were, “Where in hell have you been? You look like ragamuffins”. I knew that was not a good thing. It resulted in many baths.
I always thought the word “ragamuffin” was just a German slang description. There is actually a word in Webster’s dictionary meaning “a poor ragged child”. To be honest, I didn’t really feel poor or ragged. My days had plenty of adventure and excitement.
Those were the early days. I am now in the more advanced days. The road traveled has been fullfilling. I’m not sure I am a ragamuffin any more. My days have transitioned from adventure to productive to retirement. Along the way there has been a marriage, a great family consisting of 5 special Grasshoppers, more marriages, grand-children and losses of loved ones. I’ve had one special partner that has traveled the path of life with me. I consider myself fortunate.
So on this day which marks my 70th birthday, it does not conjure up any negative connotation. I look forward to what is in store for me. “Bring it”.
Love,
Dad