Happy Birthday Claire

Claire & Fuzzy

Happy Birthday, Claire. My mother. She woulda been 100-and-something.

I have no idea because she always lied about her age.

For instance, when I was four years old, I overheard her tell one of the neighbors that she was 29. At the time, I knew that my father was 42 – and I also knew that my mom and dad had graduated from high school around the same time.

So my four-year-old brain put two and two together like so: How dumb is my dad to have failed 13 times?

Happy birthday, Mom. Love ya.

Pardon my French – but I know you’re still giving dad a whole lotta shit wherever you two now call home.

And he’s loving it.

Your favorite son Barry

Conceived in Wakulla Springs

My mom told me that I was conceived at Wakulla Springs in Florida. It went like this:

My dad enlisted in the Army shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Since my mom and dad were in their mid-30s, they decided to get married before he shipped out.
After boot camp, my dad was assigned to a Bomber Command with the Army Air Corps and sent to a base in the Florida Panhandle for training.
My mom drove down to the Panhandle to spend time with him.
They wanted to have a child in case my dad never returned home.
They spent my dad’s weekend passes at Wakulla Springs – and right there is where my blessed conception transpired.
I was born nine months later while my dad was flying bombing missions in Europe – stationed in France and hoping he wouldn’t get shot down before he had the opportunity to come home to meet his son.
My dad and I met when I was two-and-a-half – shortly after the war ended.

If not for World War II – I might not be writing this right now.

Creature from the Black Lagoon

If you’ve never heard of Wakulla Springs, it’s a Florida State Park and resort area south of Tallahassee.

In the past, dozens of movies have been shot there because of the crystal clear water.

Many of the Tarzan movies were shot there – plus The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

For My Kniff Cousins

Last night, I looked thru an old sewing basket that belonged to my mom. But instead of finding pins and needles and thread, I found mementos that she saved from the time my dad spent in France during World War II.

There was a lotta nifty stuff – including these cards from Valentine’s Day and Easter in 1944 – cards that my Aunt Serve & Uncle Tom sent to my dad while he was overseas.