My Birthday

Today is my birthday. Two days ago it was my granddaughters. She was 12 and I am 71.

I did get to thinking about the difference in life perception from a 12  year old to me. There are a lot of experiential years in between that provide a knowing look on the condition of human kind and there is a lot of youthful wonderment in twelve years of existence that I have forgotten and should probably embrace for a gestalt understanding of life and times.


When I was twelve television had been coming into my home for two years.

My TV-programs were on only three channels. CBS, NBC and Dumont. ABC had not yet been formed into the third national network.


At first, I watched TV at a neighbor’s home since we didn’t get one until later. We kids (I can’t even remember my young friends names) watched Howdy Doody, Gabby Hayes, Captain Video and Tom Corbett Space Cadet.

These were generally fifteen-minute programs starting around five in the evening.

After we got a television a year or so later, I remember my Mother coming home from teaching elementary school and while preparing dinner Kate Smith could be heard in the living room singing her theme song, “When the moon comes over the mountain.”

My granddaughter’s TV choices are over six hundred channels. I imagine her birthday thoughts were just as profound as mine. Her gifts were a few electronic games and books and goodies from classmates, parents, cousins and grandparents. Her year will linger long in merriment for she has only lived one-twelfth of her life.

My granddaughter is very smart. I know, all granddaughters are very smart, but my Jenna has a grade average 97.6 in her honors classes. I am very happy and proud about that achievement.

Today I will get a few birthday wishes and calls, a couple of cards and a gift and a hug from my wife, but the day will pass quickly as they all do in one’s 71st year.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead once wrote that it’s good for the young and old to be together. The child then is able to acknowledge the elder in herself and the elder is able to acknowledge the child in himself and a new agreement is formed between generations. I like that.