Birthday BLUES...I miss the 70's!

I have just had another birthday, (UGH) and turning___yrs. old, has got me to thinking, and thinking hard. Where did the 70's go? Not the 1870's...I'm not that old!...but the good ole days when Rock N Roll was musicians playing real instruments that they worked very hard at to become as great as they were. And where did my youth go?

So, on my "big" day, I stupidly decided to take out the photo albums to "cheer" me up. WRONG! Sure it was fun looking at those old pictures and reminiscence for awhile about days gone by. But it made me long for those days even more.

There were pics of me...hair streaked blonde (naturally, not $200 later) skin tanned and for me that was pretty good since my natural color was ghost white! Past boyfriends,girlfriends for ever, all laughing as we huddled together for the picture (taken by a Kodak camera, non digital with a flash bulb) sitting on the sand of one of our favorite places to be, the beach.

Heck, I lived a stones throw away from the Great South Bay which leads into the Atlantic Ocean. We spent our days and nights, on Long Island, at the beach. Most of the kids had parents who had boats, so we water skied, and boated on a regular basis. My bestie and I took the ferry at least three times a week over to Fire Island, where the excitement rose like the moon over the ocean. Parties and friends, music and fun, that's what I remember...don't you?

I know you still miss those days, even through the tough lessons that taught you to grow up. Remember how we used to sit and plan what we'd do when we grew up..how turning 18 would make us free? Guys or girls.. we all longed for being an adult. Come on, remember?????

So, I finish going through the last photo album (number 10) and got a cup of strong coffee. It was going to be a long night.

I had other things to reminiscence about now. The doctor bill that mistakenly showed I owed $10,000 instead of $100, the Cable guy that still hasn't hooked up my cable or internet ( remember that fiasco I wrote about?) so I'm having to write at McDonalds with screaming kids jumping around me or the library with screaming, jumping kids around me( I know, what ever happened to inside voices at the library, when did that rule disappear?). I'm thinking on all the fun in store for me the next day. .dishes, laundry, taxi service for my football son and probably some new fiasco to deal with.

But, I realize that those days made me who I am today. I haven't changed much. I still can be pretty funny ( I think so, anyway)and I still appreciate the beach and the sand and the waves. My bestie lives 3000 miles away but we still Email and send letters in the mail. And yes, I still appreciate REAL music when it was played by real musicians on real instruments, not created on a sound board by a techie from ITT.

So, The Allman Brothers, The Stones, and The Doors are still blasting through my bedroom door on numerous occasions ( My cats like it). I have taught my children about the beauty of the beach and the surf even when we lived in the valley and they appreciate good times with friends in their way.

It's just at times like these, that my little one comes into the room to ask me for a drink; "juice momma. .juice" in her labored way of speaking, that melts my heart like butter on a fresh hot ear of corn. I get her the "juice" ( Vitamin Water) and we hug tightly. ( she has Downs Syndrome so her language skills are still progressing, for those who don't follow my blogs) It's then that I see how far I've come from Long Island beaches in the 70's to this very moment in Moorpark, in the 2014's. And I am thankful! And blessed!!

The pictures are there to forever remind me of where I came from and who I am. That will never leave no matter how many miles I am from Long Island.

The memories are permanently sketched in my soul...and the music will play on forever. ( sorry, son...)

PS. .Did I mention Janis?...wow...how could I forget?