Happy Birthday, Mom and Dad!

My Dad and Mom have birthday's just a day apart. Mom is one day older than Dad. (HA! He got an "older woman".) They celebrate their birthdays this month, Mom the 5th and Dad the 6th. I always got them mixed up growing up and now that I have a daughter with a birthday in September, (the 3rd) I will forever forget their BIG DAYS! How horrible is that?

So, here I am, belatedly wishing them Happy Day's but it's the thought that counts, right?

My Mom and Dad were married for 11 years and I had a great childhood growing up in two separate worlds and homes. Dad moved to sunny CA and Mom stayed in the Midwest to be closer to my Grandparents.

They divorced when I was in 4th Grade and we lived with my Mom and saw Dad at Christmas a month every summer. It was tough and as with all "kids of divorce" and I'm still dealing with issues in my life because of decisions my parents made. But overall, I was a happy kid with a happy. They instilled a love of God in my heart, and because of that, I was able to cope when things got tough. They both were always there for me if I needed them. Mom was always waiting on the couch for me when I got home late from work at Sonic and I can remember even crawling into her bed in HS after a night mare. Dad? Just a phone call away.

Anyhoo, even though I didn't know Dad very well growing up, in my adult years I have come to understand and really get to know him better and he's pretty cool. Oh, gosh! Did I just type that? I mean, I've surpassed him in several areas of technology, but I owe my techno passion to him and our Intellevision Football Game we used to play almost the entire month of June. Oh, and music? He had a killer stero that I jammed to Barry Manilow on during my HS summers. Lots of confessions in this post! LOL

I just love the cute adorable photograph of him above and how innocent he looks. I see a lot of my sister's physical appearance in his face and me sometimes, too. Funny how God decides physically what to pass on to children and what not. Check out those teeth! How cute is he?

Happy Birthday, Dad! He now lives in Lexington, Ky, which is where I was born, and is retired. Sort of. He sings professionally, Christian music and even has a CD or 2 that I've actually listened to, despite the fact that he sounds nothing like Barry. LOL


This photograph above is of my Mom and Kim and me sometime back in the late 70's early 80's perhaps? Not sure, but maybe my mom will comment and let me know. Funny thing is, growing up, I never really thought my Mom was cool. You know? Style wise. I just thought I knew everything of course, and not her, but check out Mom's hair in this shot above? Pretty cool, sporting the Dorothy Hamil, Mom. We were living in Joplin, MO at this time so I'm pretty sure I'm in 5th or 6th grade. My sister is so cute! You can see the resemblance in the eyes to my Dad and that cute little smile. It was shortly after this that I was called, "chicken legs" and I so wish I had this nickname now. At the time I hated it, but my legs never touched each other and had a gaping hole when I stood at attention during our cheer leading stance. oops...another confession. I was a HS Cheerleader. Oh, my...

Mom, Happy Day to you too! She now lives in Downieville, CA up in the beautiful mountains.




The Happy Family with their adorable 2 year old that even then, could not focus on the camera. I was more interested in the equipment taking the shot. LOL (Just so you know, I'm the Blondy in the front.)

On a side note, my cousin Mary Ellen passed away this week. She was only 41 and left behind 2 girls. I found these photographs while looking through my millions of images, for a photograph of her. I didn't get to spend a lot of time getting to know her growing up, product of the divorce and all, but I did after we both had children. Everyone take the time today to say a small prayer for her family, and most of all for her girls.

TIP: instead of scanning photos, take a picture of them. These were taken by placing the photo on a solid surface next to a lit window. I used my 24 and probably an f stop of 3.5 or so. Great quick way to share and archive old photographs.