By Susan Wordal
January is the 1st month of each year. It’s a time for reflection and contemplation. A time for memories. And in our family, it’s a time to celebrate.
Just over 3 decades ago, I was working for the City of Bozeman and getting settled in a new (to us) house. And I was feeling huge and my blood pressure was HIGH and I was on “bed rest” going into the New Year. Apparently, when your BP is that high, one should NOT go to work and prosecute people who commit misdemeanor violations like Failing to Stop for Stop Signs, Criminal Trespass to Property, or Violation of Orders of Protection. Something about that kind of work is just not conducive to calm. Go figure.
I had no idea what awaited, but the day came when they said: Induction. OK. We picked a day and got up and ready to go to the hospital. On the way, the car “died” so I had to wait for the spouse to run back for the other vehicle. Meanwhile, in California, there was this earthshaking experience. Yep. The Northridge earthquake had struck that morning. Guess what we watched on the tv? Ok, I guess that wasn’t a difficult question. And the really funny thing, I was actually in labor before they started the induction process. Guess the “kid” really knew what needed to happen.
And then this beautiful child was in our arms. Blonde, with blue eyes and a nose just like her Aunt’s. And her hair … when we would put a hat on her head and then take it off, it looked like someone had styled in into a mohawk. I got to the point where I would tell people, “Yes, she does it herself.” Because, really, I had not much to do with it.
We began to know pretty quickly that she was going to be a handful. Of course, with two stubborn parents, what else could we have expected? She’s double-stubborn. She watched us from her “bouncer” chair and slept through the night at about 4 weeks old. Might have had something to do with the spouse telling the tummy every night that it was “night time” and he would wake us in the morning, but it worked! We were drummed out of the parent club for that one!
We noticed that there were certain things she would say which sounded a little backwards. For example, instead of saying “Grandma” she would say “Bagham” so my Mom immediately jumped on that and has been “Bagham” ever since. No “Grandma” for that lady, thank you very much. And when she was about 2.5 yrs old or so, she looked at me at the dinner table one night and said, “Well actually Mother.” Now, given this, I knew we were in for a ride!
At almost 5, she learned we were going to Israel on a trip with my parents and would be gone over her birthday. She was not happy. I mean, how could we leave her over her birthday?!? But she continued to ask for a baby brother when she asked for a present. She had lots of girl cousins and knew she didn’t want a sister. Good thing we had gone to the “source”. I mean, we were taken to the stable (the manger, according to the tour guide, was a raised stone edifice with an indentation in it for feeding animals and if I remember correctly, was not outside). We also went to the Mount of Olives, the Dead Sea, Gethsemane, the Mount of the Beatitudes, and touched the Wailing Wall or Western Wall, and brought back water from the River Jordan Baptismal site (Bethsaida) (had to have special water for a baptism, right?). Sure enough, she got her present about 9 months later – Parker.
For the high school years, the birthday generally fell during finals week! Totally awful. Who wants to celebrate a birthday by taking tests and studying for those tests?!? So, Parker bought his big sister a crown to wear on her special day. She has worn it thereafter to commemorate her day, even when other things were distracting from that special day.
Of late, the tradition is to join with a group of friends for dinner at her favorite restaurant. COVID kind of put a kink in that for a couple of years, but now we’re back to celebrating as before. We miss the “Birthday Buddy.” (She was born the same day as Betty White, so when she turned 19, Betty turned 91. Kind of an interesting factoid.) But she continually finds others who share the day, even if not in the same place. Now her brother is home to celebrate with her and we are looking forward to dinner out!
The memories are worth it. So, if you see the Birthday Girl, wish her well. She’s a gift from God, at least for me and mine.