My Mother gave me a very special gift during the holidays...one of our old family albums. You see, my parents recently divorced after 38 years of marriage and now I'm the keeper of what was once our lives. I think it was a beautiful, thoughtful and touching gift but I placed it on a shelf and have gone on with work/school/wranglingkittiesanddoggies/life.
Until today.
Today is my birthday so I found it fitting to take the album from its shelf and look back at what once was...and to honor the 2 very special folks who brought me up in this world.
These pictures are old and a bit grainy and some of the decor/fashion is quite laughable but I think they're just perfect as is...
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| My Dad took my Mom somewhere snazzy on their 1st date...my cousin Michelle's 1st birthday party. Yep, my Dad was quite the smooth one with his chops and his love of bringing strangers to awkward family gatherings. |
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| And here's Dad at his 19th birthday. Little did he know that I was only a twinkle in his eye for about 3 more months. Whoops! His days of being a free wheelin' musician were numbered. |
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| Annnnnnnd here I am! |
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| Who has better eyebrows in this picture? Mom...by a long shot... |
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| I liked hiding in obvious places and my Mom loved dressing me in white frilly dresses. |
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| The awesomeness of this picture is only eclipsed by... |
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| This couch. |
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| Back in the 70's you could feed your kids a glass of RC Cola loaded with peanuts. |
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| And drive without a car seat. Did they even have them back then? |
So, there you go. I was a chubby cheeked babe born to very young parents who were blessed with some stellar flowing locks. I think my folks kind of grew up along side me and I can tell you that the early years the adventures were never ending. And even though I'm celebrating this birthday with some different situations than in prior years - an impending parental wedding (my Mom is marrying a very nice guy named Ricky and is moving to Athens!) and my Dad starting school for the first time in almost 40 years - I still bask in the joy of what my family was for so many years. And I'll continue to be amazed, amused and sometimes annoyed by my folks...and loved, of course. Loved.
Happy Tuesday!
