Birthdays Past and Present

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm not going to say which one. I had a great time with my family and friends. We had a Mexican-style barbecue (carne asada)and birthday cake. My daughter Carolina gave me a pair of BB target pistols with plastic BBs. Some of us guys went out in the backyard for some target practice. The pistols were very accurate from about 10-15 feet. We soon discovered that the impact of the BBs was not that great, so we ended up running around (moving targets) the yard shooting each other in the butt. We had a blast.

When I was a kid your birthday was a highlight of the year. My mother would say that the birthday boy or girl was "King/Queen for the Day." I remember getting cool presents like a baseball glove, a bicycle, and a BB gun. My Mom would always say that the Birthday King/Queen could have anything to eat. My favorite was Campbell's Beef Soup and banana cream pie. Of course we'd always have a special birthday cake and ice cream, too. Our family tradition was that just before the Birthday King/Queen blew out the candles, someone would say "Don't spit on the cake!"

When you get a little older, birthdays are still fun, but in a different way. Birthdays on the "milestone" years (30,40,50) can be a little unnerving. It's more about spending time with family and friends, getting silly birthday cards and goofy presents like BB pistols, and not so much about getting lots of presents. I am already looking forward to my birthday next year!

One of my best birthday presents this year was a cool Hawaiian shirt from by best buddy Nick (see my May 11 blog, "Finding Nick"). Nick and I were best friends in high school and then went our separate ways and lost track of each other until last year when we connected via the Internet. Nick remembered that we bought each other matching shirts from the small department store where we worked for our 15th birthdays (Nick's is on May 20, mine on May 26). I have no memory of this, but it's too crazy to make up. So we decided to start a tradition and buy each other "matching" birthday shirts each year. I sent him a Black silk Hawaiian shirt last week and yesterday a similar green print Hawaiian shirt appeared via UPS. So I guess they are matching shirts-- same style, different colors.

My Brother Bruce

My older brother Bruce lives in Arizona. He owns a trading post on the Navajo Indian Reservation and recently was appointed a county judge. He is an interesting person and has lived an interesting life. I have two brothers (Bruce and Harold) and two sisters (Gail and Debbie). I love all of them, but the one I feel closest to is Bruce. This is because when my father died when I was 15 years old, Bruce, who is ten years older than me, took over as like a father substitute. He spent time with me, took me fishing, hunting, and camping and even taught me how to drink a beer. He actually seems like more of a father to me than my own father. I love Bruce in a special way and stay in touch with him better than I do with my other siblings, although I love them too, of course.

One of the things that I love about Bruce is that he is open minded and can see both sides of just about any issue. I'm sure that makes him a good judge. When I called him last week to ask what he thought about the new Arizona immigration law, he paused and said that he could see both sides, and why people have strong feelings on both sides of the issue. That's just about what I figured he would say, and one reason I love him so much, Bruce my brother/father.