Birthdays of long ago

Back in the 60s, celebrating a birthday wasn't a huge deal. There just wasn't a lot of fuss. Mom would make a cake for us of our choosing (which was always a homemade white cake -no cake mixes- for me with white frosting & vanilla ice cream) and she would usually cook our favorite dinner as well. We would get a new outfit or some other small gift from our parents and maybe a few small gifts from siblings and/or friends. Everyone would sing happy birthday and we would move on. I think I was probably 14 or 15 in this photo. Why do I know? Because I got contact lens near the time of my 16th birthday and the glasses were no more. Now about that Twiggy haircut...
I remember this birthday so well. I woke up and saw a dress that my Mom had made me hanging on the door of my bedroom. I was so excited to wear this green beauty complete with bell sleeves and gro-grain trim, with lace around the neck and around the bottom of the sleeves. So stylish and cute! I also got the lovely pen necklace you see feature in the photo from my friend Carla. The blue cat eye glasses and the white headband complement the outfit so well. All together it makes for a smashing statement. Now about those teeth...
I was the happiest girl in the world on my 6th birthday. Mom let me have a birthday party and invite some friends over. You can see the expression of sheer joy on my face. I was pretty progressive to invite three boys and two girls to my party. Little brother Paul (isn't he cute) is was my left. I remember bossing everyone around and having a great time. My oh my how some things don't change much over the years...love the ringlets!
I got this stylish green suit complete with matching skirt and slacks when I was in 6th grade for my birthday. It was so fashionable and I loved wearing it. I was devastated the day I was chasing some boys around the gravel playground at Lincoln Elementary school and slipped on the concrete-rock-covered-sidewalk and ripped the knees about of the slacks. We weren't allowed to wear slacks to school very often and it was a real special occasion when we were allowed to wear them. And then I had to go and ruin my favorite pair of slacks. I was heart broken that my fashionable green three piece suit was ruined. We finally had to cut the slacks off to shorts, but it didn't look good to wear shorts with a jacket. Don't you just love the haircut with the side curls? I faithfully taped those curls every night with Scotch tape to achieve the look. Fashion can be exhausting sometimes.

Last week I celebrated by 56 birthday. I can't believe that I'm this old. My Mom was 56 1/2 when she lost our dad. I thought it seemed pretty "advanced in years" back then, but now I have a completely different perspective. Becoming a widow at 56 is very young. At this age, "things" start changing fast. Life becomes more precious and more tenuous. Kids grow up and move on. Relationships with friends and family become more meaningful. We have time to do some stuff we haven't had time to do for years. I think I'm going to like this next chapter of my life.
And guess what? My dear husband gave me this for my birthday. It beats the blue pen necklace all to heck.