October is my birth month, yes Grandma G is a Scorpio. According to the ever-wise internet here are a few characteristics of Scorpios:
- everything runs deep for them
- their feelings are strong, intense and last forever
- don't cross a Scorpio, their revenge is slow and painful
- they are deeply intuitive and tend to overthink their gut feelings
- Scorpios like money in their birthday cakes (I may have made that one up)
The Hubs bought me the mood necklace, shown in the picture, for my birthday in the late seventies. Times must have been tough as its chain has long since been repurposed. For some reason, I kept this little gem for all these years. I don't remember if I asked for a mood necklace or if he got it so he could gauge what mood I was in.
In my family, birthdays in the late sixties and early seventies included getting money wrapped in wax paper in your cake - everyone loved that. I think my friends would still like to get money in their birthday cakes. I wonder why no one does that anymore? Sad that tradition ended, maybe people buy more birthday cakes than make them now.
Getting a quarter in their piece of cake probably wouldn't be that exciting for today's kids. I guess inflation should apply to cake cash as it does to everything else. If a quarter was sufficient forty-five years ago what would the cake amount need to be now? Would I need a bank loan to make a money cake? I may have to rethink this idea.
We didn’t go out for our birthdays. It never even occurred to us that this was an option and it probably wouldn't have been if we had asked. My parents didn’t take me and my girlfriends to the movies, a games room or a restaurant. My birthday parties involved having friends over for cake and eventually what every parent dreads - sleepovers. When it was our birthday, each of my girlfriends and myself would take a turn hosting a sleepover and mischief sometimes ensued. We really looked forward to those sleepovers though, they were our big preteen social events.
As parents, we often stress trying to find the perfect birthday gifts for our kids. I couldn’t tell you now what gifts I got for most of those birthdays. What I do remember though, is the cake that my Mom baked. Her carefully wrapped coins were strategically placed so each piece would have money in it. I also remember the laughter and friendship.
What the weather will be like in Saskatchewan in late October is always anyone’s guess. Some years, like the year I was born, are warm and beautiful while other years saw us playing a rousing game of Fox and Geese under the yard light in the freshly fallen snow. When I picture those birthdays in my mind now, it reminds me of a scene in a snow globe.
My daughter took me out for dinner and a movie last week as an early birthday gift. I hadn't been in a movie theatre in years. Those leather chairs with the footrests are the cat’s meow. It reminded me of the importance of taking the time to go out with family and friends.
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