That Special Time of the Year

We are now in that special time of the year, after I have had my birthday and before Rie has had hers. I am 16 days older than her and today is the exact half-way point between when I was born and when she finally got around to being born.

We have been sharing the stories about what our parents went through when we were born. My mother sat outside a classroom and took meticulous notes on the timing of her contractions while my father took a final exam on the other side of the door. Rie's mother got curious on the due date, so she crossed her small island and took a ferry to the town with a hospital on the next island. She went to the mid-wife's house and asked if it was time. The mid-wife checked and said "Yes, come on in." Rie was born a short while later.

I especially like this time of year because I can tell Rie things like "You may not understand now, but you will when you are my age" and "Respect your elders." I also get to tell her about the things that happened in my lifetime, but before she was born. Wings released their first album. The West German Chancellor received the Nobel Peace Prize. The Golden Gate Bridge had a blackout. Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan. "Diamonds are Forever" opened in the U.S. The Waltons came to T.V. and "A Clockwork Orange" opened.

The world has changed a lot in my lifetime. More so than it has in Rie's lifetime.