Another year has turned to memories. Another day has come and gone. Sixty-Seven since this picture was taken in the front yard of my childhood home. I’m happy each person captured in that moment is still around. I’m happy I’m still able to eat cake. I’ve been potty trained. I wear shoes and clothes now. I miss my hair. I’ve gained weight and gotten taller. I weigh 100 pounds plus my age. It seems I have been destined to gain a pound a year since I finished high school.

My parents were hoping for a daughter when I was born. My aunt told me the attending nurse at Dr. Pearson’s clinic above the movie theater said, “Oh the poor woman had another boy. I know she is so disappointed.”

If my folks were disappointed they never mentioned it to me.

I think God sent me to them as a test. Kinda like that Job guy in the Bible. When I was small I taught them how to run. How to climb. How to hide Christmas presents. Things like that.

I showed them that not all of their boys had to make good grades to be at the head of their class. My third grade teacher was so impressed with me that she moved my desk to the front of the classroom and put it beside her’s.

As a teenager I showed them that a kid could put 238 miles on a car in one night and never leave town.

On another night I even demonstrated to the city police department that sixteen kids and a beagle dog actually could fit onto Mr. Peterson’s dune buggy, do figure eights in the grocery store parking lot and travel through town a few times.

I taught my parents that even though they took me 165 miles away from home and dropped me off in a strange town I could find my way back home to get my laundry done. Six weeks of laundry.

I taught my mother that one could put all of their sheets on a bed at one time and peel off the top dirty sheet when it was time for a fresh one.

On my journeys home from college I broaden my horizons and met a lot of interesting people. I traveled with carnival workers traveling through the state. I got rides with guys hauling mobile homes, people of color, families, drunks and the president of the National Cash Register Company.

I taught my folks that not all of their sons had to graduate from college.

Yes. Looking back I believe God sent me to them sixty eight years ago for a reason. They never showed me their disappointment that I wasn’t the daughter they’d always dreamed of. They simply loved me. They accepted me for who I was. Daddy has been gone forty-four years now. Mother nearly twenty-two. I miss them. Him, his wisdom and kindness. And his hands. Hard working calloused hands. Her, her shared memories and wit. And her light-green birthday cakes that were yellow inside. I’m glad I was able to teach them a few things while they were here.

God returned the favor when it was my time to become a parent. I had three daughters. They’ve taught me a lot. -Things I never expected. Shocking things.

God never disappoints.

Happy birthday to me. Thank you God.

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Rick Algood
June 6, 2020