Fourth of July 2018

  July in our  family is a month of birthday celebrations ---our country's, two of my daughters, granddaughters and more. It is a month falloff memories and reminders of the love inherent in the family. The next big month is October , then December but there are other months that hold memories spurred by birthdays. June,February, March, September all have multiple birthdays that stir my memory bank.

  February is my dad's month. He was born in 1911 on the 18th between Valentine's day and a president's birthday. His mom was 17, and the birth  must not have been easy as family lore says she spent the most of the next year in bed. He had three sisters--Hazel ( who died before her 3rd birthday),Mary( who lived to see her late nineties) and Catherine ( the dog lover of the generation). All of them would live through WWI, WWII , and Korea and part of Viet Nam. They were part of what Dan Rather terms the grand generation.

 Dad was a big man- over six foot and barrel chested, He had a short fuse but never held a grudge. Still when he was done with a person, he was done. He was never mean but his icy politeness was chilling.( I have inherited this trait.)  He did not attend college as the depression made that impossible but he always earned a living.Steel worker, truck driver and traveling salesmen they were all on his resume.The stories I could tell but they are for another day.

June is my mother's month. Born Cecelia Shubert in 1912, she was the seventh child of her parents. There would be two more. She was short, auburn haired and fiesty. She worked as a cook much of her life, and when she didn't work she often took in boarders. She loved a good joke, and often cracked us up with the raciness of some of them. She was independent and that helped her to be a salesman's wife. All of my daughters and myself were blessed with hits trait but especially Dana who shares June as a birth month,

 July is heavy with big days. Daughters and grand children fill the boxes my calendar. Sara due on the 24th was born on the 20th, Rebecca due on the 20th was born on the 24th.  Along with the middle girl ,Dana, filled  my life with memories. Horse shows, dog shows, 4H fairs, sisterly spats, and individual events are coming to mind as I write this. Again stories for another day,

 September is my  month  and the month of a beloved cousin ,Jeanne. My day is the third and hers is the second just one year and 364 days later.  In ways our lives  were so different, and yet there were parts that were  the same. I was the first to graduate from college, and she was the last. I was the first to wed, she was the second, and both saw those marriages ended in divorce. She found love again, and I am still single and content with that.

 December is the birth month of my other paternal cousin Patricia. College graduate and nurse, she married her doctor.  She has spent her life with students and horses. The only blonde in the trio of cousins, she never was the flighty blonde stereotype.  On Sept.2nd our birthdays aline and we are all one year apart in age but I mess that up on the third.

 So that is the year's highlights.  The stories can wait and the  grandchildren and great-grandchildren  tales will be coming as they mature. This is only the paternal side of the family as the maternal side is numerous and the memories  concern only a few with any clarity. This happens in families.

 So reader is your calendar full of memories?