My 70th Birthday

                                      
I can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!!!

I took this photo of myself about three months ago. It has been a long time since I have used the timer on my camera. The whole process was amazingly easy and fast. I also used a tripod which certainly helps a lot. It was on a Sunday and I had just returned from church and I thought it would be a good time to take a photo. The day I took the photo would have been my 50th wedding anniversary if I had stayed married! More on that another time, maybe. I am one of those people that never seems to take a photo that I am happy with, but this time it was different!  I like it!  And, guess what? That is my natural color hair. I am  just starting to get a little grey. I can't take any credit, it's genetic!

I am thrilled to say that I am the happiest I have ever been in my entire life and I think the photo shows it. Considering the journey I have been on, I am so very grateful for this feeling of wholeness that I am finally experiencing at this time of my life.

Yep, it was 70 years ago today that I came into this world with a little partner, named John. Twins were not as common as they are today. This was long before fertility treatment was available. We had a brother four years old and another brother eight years old. So, my mother certainly had her hands full! Because my parents came to California driving a Model T Ford from Minnesota on their honeymoon (it took six weeks!) we did not have relatives to help during this labor intensive time period.

                                                              

                                                   Aren't we cute?

      

I remember my early childhood being happy. However, one BIG thing that was lacking is that I did not have any relatives close enough to spend time with. I never met my grandparents. I recall wanting to be a different ethnic background because some others were characteristic of having big families around. Those were the thoughts of a little girl, anyway. I also wanted a sister. What little girl didn't want a sister especially if she had three brothers!

Each one of us on this earth has a different background. And what we have is our own perceptions of what our experiences were. I had to go to parochial school and after fifth grade, I recall becoming very unhappy with the extremely strick parental controls and the isolation from main stream kids. Following high school graduation (during which time I took all the college-prep classes like latin, chemistry, as well as secretarial classes) I moved out of the family home and supported myself and became a Registered Nurse at age 19. That was a lot of very hard work. But, I guess that was just the prelude to what my life was going to be about. There have been many, many challenges of all sorts in my life.  I have a very strong work ethic and that probably has played a part in who I am today. I guess I am a true survivor in the real sense of the word. Nineteen was a very young age to be a Registered Nurse and have such a large amount of responsibility often including "life and death" matters. I have been told that I was a very good nurse but I think it would have been very beneficial to have more life experiences before having that type of responsibility.  _ _ _ _ _ _ To be continued.

I just returned home a short time ago from my vacation to Carmel. I had a fabulous time!  And, Lily was a real angel dog!  I even stayed a day longer than I had planned. There will be a lot about my trip  including photos in the days to come. 

This photo is of Lily having afternoon tea with me at Cypress Inn (owned by Doris Day). What a good dog she was!

I am soo very tired. It was a long drive home. But it is such a nice tired.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

~Mary~