August Birthdays

August 7, 2019
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                  In this first week of August I always think of my Mom and Dad.  They almost shared a birthday with Mom having been born on August 6thand Dad on August 7th.  Often times we would celebrate by taking my parents out to eat.  Other times the family would gather and we would grill steaks but whatever we did, one thing was a constant - we celebrated their birthdays as a single event.  
                  A few years before my mother died, we were sitting at her kitchen table and talking about interesting characters in her and my dad’s family histories.  The conversation eventually came around to the subject of their birthdays and the day they met.  I had heard bits and pieces of the story but Mom told me a few more details and shared her feelings concerning their almost shared birth date.​
                  She often imagined the two women, one in Fremont the other in Valley, both being in labor at the same time.  She stared off into space as she described her mother giving birth in a hospital while dad had been born at home.  Their lives starting at nearly the same time – under such different conditions.  Their upbringing just a few miles apart – never realizing the other existed.  
                  Mom lived in Fremont her entire life – surrounded by family and involved in the family business.  It wasn’t always easy but Mom had a consistent environment in which to grow.  After graduating from High School, she went on to College at Midland, majoring in Art and minoring in Pinochle – at least that is what she told me.  She loved playing cards in the Student Union.
                  Dad had family in Valley and the surrounding area.  He lived parts of his youth on family farm properties near Valley.  His father would move the family from time to time looking for work during the depression years – always coming back to the home base of Valley.  During the second world war Dad’s father (Clarence) moved the family to California. They lived in Long Beach and Grandpa Clarence worked as a guard at the ship building yards.  After the war, Clarence moved the family back to Valley. 
                  I’m not sure what Dad did for work after high school, but eventually he took a job, painting train depots for the railroad. He and a friend traveled across the State.  The friend and Dad tired of the job and poor housing conditions.  They returned to Valley – the friend went back to school and became a Doctor – Dad took a job at Valmont as a welder.
                  Finally, the stars were aligning and it was time for my parents to meet.  My Mom and Dad met on August 6, 1948.  Mom and a girlfriend were walking on Bell Street near the Greenhouse on that warm summer evening when a car pulled up beside them.  Mom’s girlfriend knew the guy who was driving the car but not the handsome hottie in the passenger side – neither of them had seen that guy before. (That hottie was my Dad).
                  The four stood around and chatted for a little while and soon the guys asked the gals if they wanted to go with them to Playland Park in Council Bluffs.  Sure – why not.  The foursome continued to visit on the way into Iowa and at the park they broke off into couples.  As Mom and Dad were riding on the Ferris Wheel, Dad told Mom that his birthday had turned out pretty good.
                  Mom thought he was being funny or trying to be funny since August 6thwas actually her birthday and she had just been thinking the same thing – her birthday had turned out pretty good.   Dad was surprised to learn that it was Mom’s birthday on the 6thand Mom was surprised to learn that Dad’s birthday was on the 7th.  As it turned out, they spent the last few hours of the 6thand the first bit of the 7thtogether and both of their birthdays turned out pretty good.  
 Their first meeting had been a celebration of their almost shared birthdays and it would continue to be a shared celebration for 60 years of marriage.  Mom told me that when she looked at Dad, as they sat on that Ferris Wheel in 1948, she knew he was the one.