Sunday, March 04, 2007

Born in '32, figure it out


We celebrated my Mom's 75th birthday today. All the siblings & a few of their kids met up in St. Cloud, MN for lunch with Mom and Stepdad. We spent a couple of hours talking, eating and admiring her new shiny presents. It was a short, but nice celebration.

Mom turned 50 the year I graduated from high school. That's the age she is and always will be to me in my brain. It still throws me for a loop when I have to stop and realize that she can't do all the things she used to. I've told her this before and she says in some ways, she still feels 25. If only our bodies listened to our brains!

One of my favorite "Mom-ism's" is her answer to the question, "How old are you?" Her stock reply is "Born in '32, figure it out." So here's some interesting tidbits about the year my Mother was born and we all know it was 1932. ;)

in 1932...
  • Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly Atlantic solo.
  • Charles A. Lindbergh's baby son kidnapped, killed.
  • A first class stamp cost $.02.
  • Herbert Hoover was the president.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in November.
  • Unemployment reported at 24%.
  • The Kentucky Derby champion was "Burgoo King."
  • Earthquake kills 70,000 in Kansu, China.
  • Jazz composer Duke Ellington writes "It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing."
  • Jack Benny's radio show premieres.
  • Yankees win the 29th World Series.
  • Electric-eye enables typesetting machine to scan print without operator.
  • Radio City Music Hall opens in Manhattan.
  • Others born in '32: Johnny Cash, Elizabeth Taylor, Ted Kennedy, Debbie Reynolds, Jim Nabors, Della Reese, Peter O'Toole, Mel Tillis, Patsy Cline, Robert Reed (Brady Bunch Dad), Little Richard

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is it that our parents always remain the same age in our heads no matter their "real" age? I can remember every stage of my children's lives and how they looked, but my parents have always looked to me just as they now look. Weird science.

I love your mom's answer to her age -- what a fiesty woman! It's clear that you come from good stock!

BTW: Your black and white photo has one fleck of "tannish" color way up near the window -- a stray cornflake perhaps? Or just more weird science?

Sizzle said...

what a great pic. i love those old black and whites. i have many of them framed in my house of my grandparents and aunts and uncles. :)

Balou said...

Mary: I'm glad I'm not the only one with tainted vision. The tan fleck, well, probably chocolate on the scanner. ;)

Sizzle: I love the black & whites too. My Mom is probably saying right now "why does she have that photo?"

Kathleen Riley said...

Mom looks fantastic! Look how tiny the waist is on those gals. Happy Birthday "A"

Unknown said...

My mom was born in 1933. I like to remind her of this constantly.

And I don't see my mom as elderly, either. I see her as being the 40-something woman I grew up with. But then I look at those old pictures and I think "wow, I don't remember her looking like that."

Bone said...

Wow, she was born in a good year for country singers, apparently :)

I love the old picture, too, and thoughts of a simpler time. It seems like my parents were 30 for about twenty years. And now they've been 50 for about the past seven years.

RennyBA said...

Happy Birthday to your Mom all the way from Norway! Mine was born in 34, so her stock reply would be the same:-)

Balou said...

Dorky Dad: I'm sure your Mom appreciates that. ;)

Bone: The list was chock full of country singers. I didn't even include them all!

Renny: I will forward the well wishes. She's the Norwegian side of the family. Syeverson's and Hokanson's in our family tree.