My Birthday 63
Last week was my birthday; I told my wife and kids not to use 63 candles since I cannot afford to have them wax poetic over my birthday. A single candle would do; more than that however, would require me to use up most of my lung capacity. But they didn't listen.
After we doused the flames and painted the ceiling white again, I began to reminisce about my first birthday party. I was 6 years old (that's right, no parties from 1 to 5) and we were living on Riverside Drive in New York City. The year was 1951.
I remember:
- My mother using a sprinkle bottle when ironing my shirts.
- I had a pair of steel roller skates with keys to tighten the clamp around your shoes.
- My mother wore white gloves when she went out.
- There was a street vendor on Broadway that would charge you 25 cents to take a picture of you sitting on his pony.
- Most candy was a penny or a nickel.
- A glass of coke was 5 cents.
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