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So happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me, happy birthday to me!
(Technically, I’ve got til 8:50pm tonight to be 30. I’m going to be 29 til then…I don’t want to be 30! WAH!)
As the story goes, my mother was overdue, huge, and was not allowed to use the air condition per my father, because it “cost too much”. I’ve been pregnant in the summer WITH a/c and I can’t imagine how she made it without stabbing him in the eyeball.
She worked til she was about ready to pop, as an R.N. no less. And still no baby. Finally, she went into labor. There were no ultrasounds in those days, at least not for a normal pregnancy, so it was not until she went through several hours of labor that it was found out that I was breech. So, not only did she get to experience labor, but a C-section as well. Go mom!
As my sister tells it (she was 11 at the time) the phone rang at home, interrupting Sanford & Son on TV. My father announced it was a girl, and boy were my sisters and brother disappointed! They really, really wanted that 2nd boy in the family. I’m glad I was a girl, because my father wanted to name me Bradley if I were a boy. BRADLEY. Ick. My mother’s choices were Megan, or Colleen. She worried Megan was too popular, and I think she was right. I hardly meet anyone named Colleen. So there I was - all 9 1/2 lbs of me - Colleen Catherine. (My middle name came from my moms mother, who died when my mom was 7).
Based on my size, my mom was suddenly happy she had that C-section! (Years later, when I had gestational diabetes during my first pregnancy, my OB speculated that perhaps my mom did too, given my large size. It tends to run in the family, but they didn’t test for such a thing back in 1976.)
Given that it was 1976, a mere 200 years after the birth of our nation, my grandmother sent a special framed birth certificate proclaiming me a bicenntenial baby. It’s here right next to me in my den!
I went home to Tarpon Springs, to join my mother and father and 3 siblings in a tiny 3 bedroom 1000 square foot house. I spent the first 2 years of my life in a portable crib in my parents room because there was simply no space for me. Finally my brother moved out to join the navy, and I moved into the room formerly occupied by both of my sisters. I took over the bottom bunk, my oldest sister had the top bunk, and my next oldest sister got our brothers room. Then when I was 5, the oldest sister was gone, and I had my own room.
My mom just sold that house, and while I wasn’t teary about it then, I am tonight….thinking about how many years of my life I spent there. We celebrated many a birthday party there…first in our front yard and carport, and later after our pool was built, out on the pool deck. It was the home I brought my first child home too, and we lived there with our 2nd and 3rd child also. All of the pictures I’ve been sharing this week were almost all taken in that home, and tonight I’m really missing it.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 28th, 2006 at 12:10 am and is filed under Daily Happenings, It's All About Me. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Happy Birthday, Colleen!!!! You’ll love 30.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Happy 30th Birthday!!!!!!
Happy Belated Birthday Colleen!
Hope your 30th birthday weekend is going well and Jim did a good job with your surpirse!
I loved seeing these pics - my favorite has to be the jelly shoes and leg warmers - pretty sure I rocked those same shoes out!
I hope you had a very happy birthday! I’ve enjoyed seeing your pictures and reading about when you where little and when you were born.