Happy Birthday George!

On August 22nd you will be 90!!!  E gads, those years rolled by mighty fast! It seems only yesterday that you and I, along with my younger brothers and sisters, spent summer days, barefoot and fancy free with not a care in sight. Those days are among my fondest memories.

Do you remember sitting in the branches of Grandmother's apple tree after it had been knocked down during the storm the night before and eating green apples? Between bites of sour green apples we ate salty crackers.

Remember going to the empty stadium to run the track? Being barefoot, the cinders hurt my feet and I never made it all the way around, but that didn't stop us from going back to the stadium often to climb the bleachers and count them when we were tired of running.

Remember the territorial war we had with the neighbor kids on the hill in back of Grandmother's house? Both sides spent hours making mud balls to throw at each other. We spent hours making marble size mud balls and laid them out in the sun to dry for ammunition, but the war fizzled out about three days later. It was a good thing too, since the weapons we had made would have killed someone if we had ever hit a target.

Remember the evening when Penny, the dog thought he was jumping into his favorite chair and landed splat on the floor instead? The room was dark and Penny forgot that Grandmother had moved the chair from the usual place.

Remember the peach ice cream Grandmother made in the old hand crank freezer and carefully packed in ice to keep until time to serve. You and I took teaspoons and sneaked into the cellar room and stole tastes. We took so many that when Grandmother discovered what we had done, she made us take the little red wagon to town and bring back enough ice to make more.

Remember the Michigan Rummy games we played sitting on the floor of the front room at Grandmother's. She let us play with the bicycle decks of cards, but frequently told us she would not allow Euchre played in her house.

Remember the New Years Eve we went sledding down the hill and rammed into the telephone pole at the bottom? I still have a scar on my leg where it got caught between the pole and the sled.

Remember when you and our friend Doyle and I went to the movies together and sang "Over the Rainbow" on the way home?

Remember the errands to the day old bakery Grandmother would send us on and we always walked thru the park so we could see the statue of Chief Mahaska?

Those were the days! We both have had many twists and turnings with experiences taking us to strange and far away places during our years, but I like to browse these memories from time to time and remember the loved ones that shared our lives back then.

May your day be the best of birthdays. And may tigers never knock at your door.