The Snows of Yesteryear

I'm feeling very grateful to my parents today, especially to my mother, who gave birth to me on this day in 1964.

She also took me out to lunch today in honor of my birthday--a tradition she has followed pretty much ever since I left home.

Look at us in the picture there--my mother a glamorous 1960s gal, and me a little bundle in footy pajamas. (Yes, my mother dressed up around the house. Look at those stockings! I wonder if my children will reminisce about my sweats? Or on special occasions, sweats with a racing stripe?)

As a late December baby, I have the honor of ushering out the old year and seeing in the new. We turn together, the calendar and I, and it seems more poetic and appropriate as I age.