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I LOVE traditions. I think that is why I love birthdays. It is the perfect day to make a tradition that you can anticipate and look forward to. Here is a look back at my most memorable birthdays.

My earliest birthday that I remember is the my 6th birthday. I was in kindergarten. Mom invited all the girls in my class (all six!). It was afterschool and a beautiful sunny afternoon. My parents gave me my first Barbie. Several girls gave me Barbie clothes and accessories. We were in the back yard and in my room.

I remember my Uncle Paul stopping by. This was very unusual because he lived in Kansas City and was a trucker. I never remember him coming by any other time but on that birthday and he brought me one of his Tiger Health bars that he always ate (and I loved, too)

May is the best birthday month for many reasons. One of them is it is right time for a bike.

My first bike was a used blue Schwinn. I think I must have been in first grade. My neighbor friend had one, too and I was soooo jealous of hers. She had an S on her seat (I did not) and I thought that one should be mine since it was my letter.

In fourth grade I got a brand spanking new baby blue banana seat bike. That thing was awesome! I was so proud of it.

In middle school I got an orange 10 speed. My favorite color was orange and I could not have been happier. The handlebars were wrapped with black electrical tape (this bike was used, too) Back in the day – our basic mode of transportation was a bike. So these were not only fun but very practical gifts.

My mom went through a cake decorating phase. My favorite cake was a Ziggy cake. I loved Ziggy and that cake was super cute! That was my 14th birthday.

Since my birthday is so close to All Schools Day that turned into my official birthday party. We would meet up with my friends at the parade and then go for a picnic lunch and then the carnival and then I would have a sleepover. Those were some wild and crazy slumber parties. I don’t know how my parents ever survived those!

I don’t like surprises. It takes a lot to surprise me but I have enjoyed my share of surprise parties. On my 13th birthday I had a babysitting job for the regular kids I babysat for all the time. I rarely (maybe never?) turned down a babysitting job so to baby-sit on my birthday wouldn’t have been weird. When the mom brought me home imagine my SURPRISE when I walked in the front door and all of my friends were standing there! That was fun. There was also a surprise birthday on my 16th birthday. Randy surprised me with an entire full-blown birthday BBQ after we were married. All of our friends were there in our teeny back yard. On my 35th birthday I was 9 months pregnant with Abe. I did NOT want a party of any kind. We had a program at school and when we came home Randy had everybody there with cake and ice cream. It was fun even though I was grumpy and threw a fit. On my 40th birthday all the girls in my family were going to go out and eat. When we stopped by to pick up my mom I was so surprised to see all my friends there and my favorite dinner of porkchops and potatoes and gravy ready for me. Great times!
For years we would all load up and go eat Brookville chicken on my birthday. My dinner was always free and it was a tradition for years. It is no more because I can’t eat there. This makes me very sad. But I have lots of great memories of those dinners.

The thing about May birthdays is the weather is absolutely perfect or we are in a tornado warning. There have been plenty of birthdays where we have huddled in the basement with the sirens blowing. Our Brookeville trip had to be cancelled a time or two as well.

The weather is perfect today and I am going to have a great birthday!