Well, I made it another year. Last Sunday was my birthday. Yeah, I made it another year. I am not a fan of celebrations about birthdays, at least at my age, but truly I love the day for the way folks say nice things about you and you are under no required reciprocal action.
My bride made my favorite breakfast and I have been cleared to do nothing for the entire day if that is my desire. Lorraine and her mother asked what I wanted for my birthday food. They gave me a choice between two of my favorite foods. I could have cherry pie or lemon meringue pie. I couldn’t make up my mind, so they made one of each. That’s a birthday gift in itself.
Of course, my greatest desire is for my family to be with me today. That probably won’t happen this birthday due to this darn virus and because they are big people now and have other commitments. But they all know how much I love them being here, so it will happen soon. I’m hopeful!
It’s not only my birthday, but also I share it with a lot of famous people. Have you ever searched for famous people born on the same date as your birthday? I share mine with Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the founding fathers of our country; not bad company to be with. He was always my favorite founding father, even before I found we shared a birthday. Smart guy and, according to history, he was quite a talker; got his way because he was so smart. I feel even closer to him than others that share my birthday. He was also left-handed as am I.
Kid Rock, a very popular rock star, turned 50 on my birthday. He is almost my favorite entertainer. Another guy that I’m proud to share the day with is Muhammad Ali. This is a guy that had everything going for him and gave it all up for his principals. He said he didn’t want to kill any Vietnamese because they never hurt him. It was mostly a white man’s war and he didn’t feel he should allow himself to be drafted and be sent to harm anyone.
Funny thing, I never met a guy in Vietnam or even afterward that thought he was a jerk because he didn’t go. The boxing establishment took his title as world champion and wouldn’t let possibly the greatest boxer of all time work at his trade. It was sort of like the politicians in Washington, D.C., today. They do anything they want and they suffer no consequences.
I am seriously wondering if I’ll have another birthday next year. It might be illegal by then. It’s like they are trying to get the people to revolt. Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Al Capone was also born on Jan. 17. I don’t think I would be happy following his example; either in work or where he ended up.
Along with my birthday, we all have hopes for the next year. Hopes that we will beat this darn virus and the economy will bump up and we will all have a better life. When I look back at 2020, there are some highlights that I sometimes forget. I graduated from college last year. Although I didn’t get to walk across the stage to receive my diploma, I didn’t feel bad about that because no one got to walk. Besides, my wife and children were happy for me and my parents have already gone to their reward, so I had everyone that is important to me tell me how proud of me they were.
I finally got my truck put together and painted and it drives, so that was sure a highlight to me. I not only have healthy happy grandchildren, but last year I got a great-grandson to add to the family. I have decided that this will be a special year, but not for the same reason as last year. I want everyone to get past this dang virus and be back in the arms of their families. I said at one time that I was suspicious of all the deaths that were being reported as death by the virus and then found out that they were putting the older patients in with the folks that definitely were stricken by the virus. I said I didn’t know anyone that was sick or knew of anyone that knew someone that was sick.
I don’t want to have to eat my words, but now I know a person who is suffering from the virus. He has been in the hospital for over a month and is fighting with that special strength some folks are blessed with. I also heard that hospitals got a little spiff when they accepted a virus patient that was already sick with some other problem. Maybe it’s not true, but I wouldn’t put it past those folks in Washington to come up with a program like that.
My prayers go out to all the afflicted, whether it is the virus or something else. I think it is about time someone remembers where this virus came from. I would beg you to look at the labels of items you are about to purchase. See if you can find it is with a tag that says “Made in America.” I don’t know if we could make a difference, but it’s worth trying. It’s going to be hard because the politicians in Washington have sent everything else to be made there. The leaders in China are not our friends, and I was surprised to see that they make all our antibiotics.
How long are we going to keep putting our heads in the sand? Someone needs to remind the decision makers that we are losing our standing in the world. God Bless!
