06/16/2026
Today is my 86th birthday.
Every year on my birthday, I try to come up with something new and different to learn or accomplish during the coming year.
Past birthdays have inspired me to learn drawing, painting, poetry, short stories, decoupage, woodburning, flower arranging, gourd staining, and last year…publishing my first children’s book.
Now here I am on another birthday, and I’m stumped.
Truthfully, I think all I want to do is keep writing children’s books. I have never enjoyed anything quite as much as bringing my daddy’s stories to life and sharing PawPaw Holler with others.
I suppose I could write my own story, but I’m not sure what genre it would fall into. It definitely wouldn’t be a children’s book. More likely it would belong in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! 😂
Well, I still have 18 hours left to decide.
Hmmmm…
As I was getting ready to post my birthday message, I realized this yearly tradition didn’t start yesterday.
When I was 10, I decided I was going to learn tap dancing. Thank goodness these birthday resolutions only last a year because I never did master “hop, shuffle, ball change.”
At 14, I decided I was going to learn to drive. I did. Fortunately, Daddy’s old ’49 Studebaker already had so many dents and scratches that nobody noticed the new ones I contributed.
Looking back, my annual “I’m going to do this!” list has been one catastrophe after another. But once I picked something, I stuck with it for the whole year.
Somehow all those little adventures added up to a pretty wonderful life.
Now at 86, I think I’ll keep doing what brings me the most joy: writing stories. Besides, Woody and the folks in PawPaw Holler still have plenty left to tell, and I’ve learned that joy always wins if you look hard enough.
Happy birthday me
