Getting Older

Well, I can't believe it. I am getting old! And today I feel even older! When I got my mail today I had a letter that had my new Medicare Card in it!! Golly, I won't be 65 for four more months!!! They didn't have to send it so early!!

I don't really feel that old. And my up coming birthday is not bothering me that much really. But I can remember when my mother turned 50. I was still fairly young and I told her, "Gee mom, you are half a century old!". She told me in later years that she really didn't feel that old until I told her that!

My "older" sister told me today, " I love being old. There are so many advantages and deductions that you can get." I guess she is right. Golly, we both are retired and can do what we want!! Now what can be better then that! ha ha

All of this is leading up to more memories I have been having. I have some of my father's old toys. He loved toys even when he was older. His toys were special toys that he kept in a special drawer. We only got to play with them when we asked permission and then we had to handle them very carefully. We only played with them for a short while and then had to put them away again in his special drawer. But because of this, I have some wonderful toys today that were my fathers.


This photo is of the original metal Slinky and the original box it came in. Also pictured is a metal top. You wind the string around the top, hold the end of the string with the metal washer between your fingers and throw it out onto the floor. Notice the holes in the side of the top, that would let it whistle while it spun.


Here are two tin toys. Very simple but fun. The clown would sit on a string that two people held very tight and the clown would "walk" down the string. The other item is a spinning disk. It says on it, "Blow On It See It Spin".

Such simple things but they were so much fun to play with! So life goes on, I get older, but I try to keep my life simple. Life for me is fun.
I think I was taught how to enjoy the simple things in life.

A Valentines Day I Remember

Do you remember when it was Valentines Day we took a card to everyone in our class at school? They were these small Valentine cards that were in a large book and you had to poke them out of the cardboard pages.

It was very important to look at each card, read it, and pick out certain ones for certain people.
I would pick out favorite ones for my best friends and try to find mushy ones to give to the boys I liked. Of course these boys probably never even read them! You had to be careful not to give a mushy one to someone you didn’t like!

When I was young and going to grade school at Washington, I think it was when I was in the second grade, daddy would drive me to school in his truck on his way to work at Martis Electric. It was just daddy and myself. This Valentines Day I had my arms full. With a heavy coat and mittens on, I also had a book, my lunch box, and my box of Valentines for all of my class.
It was a cold and blustery day. We weren’t really late but all of the kids were already inside and I knew I had to hurry. As I opened the truck door and stepped down out of the truck I dropped all of the items I was carrying.
The valentines started blowing across the playground and I started crying! I couldn’t lose all of these special valentines, everyone else would have valentines to give out!
I felt despair as only a child can feel. Daddy had to hurry to work but he turned off the truck, got out and started picking up valentines. He calmed me down and told me it would be okay, we would find all of them. He helped me get all of my valentines picked up. And we did find all of them! He wasn’t mad, he just helped me.
I do not remember exactly what daddy said but I remember the weight of the world was off of my shoulders at that moment. Daddy was my hero!! For a long time, years in fact, I remembered that time as a special love I felt from my daddy, just for me.
It has always been a special Valentine Day…..



This is a Valentine Card my mother gave to daddy before they were married. It would have been before 1932.....