Memory Lane

The celebration of my birthday started yesterday with a little celebration at our staff meeting yesterday. I arrived to find flowers at my desk and my favorite salad from the local cafe as lunch for everyone. This was of course followed by cake – chocolate cake (my Mom made me chocolate cake every year as it was my unwavering favorite). My husband surprised me with a gift plan – some for my birthday eve and some for the next morning. We then finished the day off with dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Alegria. It’s downtown near where we used to live and we rarely get over there anymore. We reminisced about old times, as did my Mom and I when I called her today. This all led to me searching for the photo of my Mom and I eating at Alegria seven years ago when we were celebrating both my birthday and my graduation from Cal State Long Beach.

In the process of finding that picture I stumbled on a few others that were fun to look at. One is of my mom when she was visiting her family in 1962 in Lexington, Massachusetts. I always love to see old photos of my mom. In the photo she is 35 years old. It’s funny to think that 40 years ago today she had just given birth to me, having just turned 40 herself.

The next photo is from 1983 when I was 16 years old. My mom and I are out whale watching off of Provincetown, Cape Cod. My cousin Barbara and her husband have a cottage at the Cape. At first glance we look like hair twins or something. I had spent a week at the beach with my friend and dumped a whole bottle of Sun-In on my hair. My mom called it my “Princess Diana” look.

And last, here is another classic east coast moment. We are visiting my Aunt and Uncle when they were living in Maine. I’m in the middle with my Uncle Rex and cousin Barbara. I think that was the year Barbara and I drove up in a snow storm. Ah, the good old days when winter was cold and you dressed for the season. Not this crazy SoCal lifestyle where it’s never really winter and never really summer. Although last summer it did get pretty darned hot.

UU Soul

Thanks, uumomma :) And happy birthday to you too! A fellow Gemini too!

I do miss the seasons, Marilyn, but it easy to when you only remember the good parts :)

I was actually looking for that photo, Mom. I swear I have it here somewhere!

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Maridmitch

And Bethyl, there you are in a foreign country with a new baby and your husband gets trapped during a war in another foreign country! Not what you expected.

Bethyl Davis Wood

Pamela, if only I had gotten my slides transferred to a CD, you could have posted that picture of you at 5 days old when we came home from the hospital in Ankara. The afternoon before Dad left with his group of scientists for Tehran and Baghdad - and got trapped there in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. What an exciting beginning! .... It's not so bad to be 40, is it? That's the way I feel about being 80. ..... Did you think of me when you ate those tapas?

Hi Pam,

"The good old days" where the weather was still exist here in the Midwest should you get a hankering for them! Or try New England! (grin)

Sounds like you had a great day and I enjoyed the photos, as always.

uuMomma

Happy belated Birthday. If it makes you feel any younger, I turn 45, yep Forty-Five, on Monday. Sounds like you had a great couple of days. I love looking at your old photos, too--especially of your mom--and I don't even know y'all! But Long Beach is one of my old stomping grounds. My BFF (from age 9) lives there now.

Glad you are writing more these days...