This is 94!
November 21, 2020
Today is my Mom’s 94th birthday! She does not like any attention or fuss made about her day, but 94 is a big deal! This is her first Covid birthday and the best we could do to celebrate her was to have DUO, ZOOM, and other calls, along with a lawn party complete with blown kisses at her front window.
She was born in 1926, which was quite a different time than 2020. Consider some of these facts from the year my mom was born-1926:
Life expectancy was 54.1 years
Calvin Coolidge was President of the United States
A new home cost $7,748
Average annual income was $2,310
Average monthly rent was $20
Tuition to Harvard University was $300 per year
A movie ticket was 20 cents each
Gasoline was 12 cents a gallon
Eggs were 14 cents a dozen
Bread was 9 cents a loaf
Milk was 34 cents a gallon
Ground coffee was 30 cents per pound
My mother has now exceeded the life expectancy of 1926 by 40 years and I am so thankful! I am thankful because she truly is the nicest, kindest, and most affectionate and loving person I know. Perhaps that sounds trite, but there is not one iota of triteness in my description of my mom! In all the years that I have known her, she has never been stingy with her verbal affirmations of love, with her nurturing and caregiving of my brothers and me, with her husband, or with her kisses (just ask the grandchildren and great- grandchildren).
While she has some limitations at her age, she still remains eager to love her family, especially my Dad (she lays out his clothes and still cuts his hair so he looks “presentable”)! She wishes she could help me prepare meals for her and my father, and every night I tease both of them that it is their turn to do the dishes. However, she does as much as she can, including voting in every presidential election since 1948. Election 2020 was no exception, except for they could not vote in person for the first time ever. They voted by mail.
When I think of my parents’ age, (my dad is 95), and when I think of how they live their lives, and how much they both honored their parents and family, I cannot help but wonder if that is part of their secret of a long life!
Ephesians 6:2-3 (English Standard Version)
2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
Happy Birthday, Mom! As we always say to each other, “I love you and I love you more!”