The celebration of Birthdays. Birthday cakes and candles were created by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Later on someone said let’s bring gifts to the birthday person…that was a good idea. In 1893 two sisters named Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill wrote the song Happy Birthday to you. If the song was played on tv ,radio, or a movie these sisters collected a royalty. Now it is public domain.
My father was born March 6, he was a Pisces. My mother was born July 28, she was a Leo. Lenny was born on October 30 and he is a Scorpio. I was born on this day July 12. and I am a cancer with a chocolate rising.
Enclosed in this message is a picture of me turning one. My mom never baked our birthday cakes. She bought them from different bakeries. One year I had a birthday cake that was….welll not my style. It was a chocolate cake with cowboys and Indians fighting each other. There was green icing made to look like grass and a white Pickett fence around the whole cake. Maybe it had a message but I didn’t get it.
When we were kids we didn’t have any money so in school we made birthday cards . . Mine were quite extravagant. My father had a friend named Scotty. He was a cargo seaman and yes he was from Scotland. When he came back from his journeys he would give Lenny and I each 15 silver dollars.
Lenny went on Royal street to a small store that sold stamps. He would put the stamps in binders that he bought and would never let me touch them. One night while Lenny was sleeping I thought about licking them then placing them back in the plastic folders …but I didn’t. He would spend hours looking at these stamps.
I am sure you were wondering what I did with my money. There was a small jewelry store next to a church. When we walked by, my mom Shirley would say isn’t that the most beautiful ring. It was quite a big smoky topaz ring. I went in and put that ring on layaway.
I did give them some of the silver dollars and when I made money from the praline store I would bring that money in to the jewelry shop. Then the big day came. The jeweler was standing there with a package in his hand. It was a maroon box and he opened it up to show me the smoky topaz ring. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw.
He took the maroon ring case and placed it in a white box that was wrapped in gold paper with a white bow on top. I went home and knelt next to my mother and gave her the box. She said…”what is this?” I said “a present fit for a queen.” I thought she was going to faint.
Lenny and I always received clothes for our birthday. As I became successful I bought my father cotton handkerchiefs with an S monogram as well as a cologne made with Patchouli. I bought my mom a fragrance by Germaine Monteil called Royal Secret. She preferred the bath oil to put on her neck because it lasted longer. When that fragrance was discontinued she became an Oscar De La Renta lady. Also each month I sent them a check so they could buy anything they wanted.
When I taught class at Slimmons, on my birthday they would have special cakes made for me. One was a sheet cake airbrushed with my picture on it…….one was a Barbie doll and her dress was the cake……also what about that cake with a big Disco ball on top. It was my birthday when we taped Groovin in the House . …that one was a three dimensional three foot cake in the shape of one of my Dalmatians … You know I cried.
So many of you have sent me birthday wishes on my Facebook and other platforms. I really appreciate that. I don’t know when your birthday is but I wish you a happy and healthy birthday!
Love,
Richard
