Saturday was August 5th, the date that I celebrate my birthday. I do that because when I was very young, my parents explained to me that August 5th was really the day I was born. Like I always did, I paid attention to them and still use August 5th to celebrate.
Over the past several years, I have been treated to some nice birthday parties. I have been surprised at a couple of them and I have enjoyed some sort of quiet family parties.
A few days ago, as I was putting together my column about our old house on Madison Avenue, I remembered listening to radio shows with my parents. One of our favorites was the Jack Benny Show. When Jack Benny reached the age of 39, he stopped increasing the years.
A few years ago, when I reached that age, I adopted his idea. Now, each year, I have a birthday and an anniversary for the number of years that I have claimed the age 39. I’m sure that Jack is very proud of how I am carrying on his tradition.
This year, I have been overwhelmed with special birthday messages from my friends and family on Facebook. Each time I would read one of those “Happy Birthday” messages I would have a special group of memories that involved myself and the message sender. Many of the messages said only a few words including, “Happy Birthday”. Many times, I could hear their voice as I read it.
I got messages from friends from my old Madison Avenue neighborhood. There were notes from former Edgewood Grade School classmates. Southport High School classmates sent several also. I received one from a fellow that I served in the Indiana National Guard with for a few years. I was also happy to receive a couple of notes from former riders of my school bus that I drove to Edgewood Grade School.
There were notes from former colleagues and customers that I became acquainted with during my years in the industrial supply business. These friends are from both Indiana and Michigan.
By far, the largest group of messages came from former riders, their parents and the staff at Beech Grove City Schools. I have been so honored to be able to stay connected with all of these special people.
It was so nice to also get notes from several of the Southsider Voice staff. We all work from different locations and seldom see each other in person. They all do a great job and I’m honored to be a small part of it.
I also received several cards in the mail and a few telephone calls. I have friends and family in Texas and several friends in Florida. The notes and calls keep coming in.
I found out the three families were also celebrating birthdays of grandchildren on August 5th. I sent a couple of notes that explained that I had a couple of things in common with those special grandchildren. I told them that we shared the same birthday. I explained to one of them that I had also been in the 6th grade, and the other one that I had also been 4-years-old.
I had a wonderful time celebrating both my birthday and the anniversary of my 39th birthday.
Next up will be Simon’s birthday on September 7th.
Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools. He can be reached through email at fdshonk@aol.com.