I Celebrate My Birthday For A Full Month Every Year!

Imagine those three as teenagers. They were a handful. I was in graduate school and or working full-time during those years. Some regrets. For the most part, they were and are great kids.

My baby is 45 now. He has a three-year-old daughter, soon to be four. How is all of this even possible?

When you look at my children, they do not look like they are all responsible adults who have important careers making good money and raising families or have raised families. Caleb is 50 and his four children are grown and have been providing grandchildren. Four great-grandchildren for me.

Joanna has eight children and four grandchildren. Another four great-grandchildren for me.

How did this ever happen, that I would get so old? Do you think they are expecting me to die soon and that is why this trip?

Okay here are some thoughts right off the top of my head:

Caleb is the oldest, I did not birth him,

and it never mattered to me or him.

He was a singer, an actor, a musician, and too smart for his peers,

and his stepmother. He could fool his father from time to time.

I understand when my daughter said that her six-year-old was smarter than her, as all three of mine are smarter than me.

Even the two that are supposed to get their smarts from their mother.

It has been fun to watch them grow and mature. My daughter is an RN and oversees the nurses in 6 senior buildings. Caleb taught computer programming and now manages a group that keeps a large business running.

Pat has had his own business since his 20s. I remember walking in and seeing him doing kickflips on his skateboard in his store.

We walked out to his car and there in an unlocked car was lots of cash from the store that he forgot to deposit.

He has done many other things and still has the same business, that a partner operates.

My children all have Native American heritage. According to ancestry, it is about 30% for my children. I am 55% according to ancestry, but just over a quarter blood is from my tribe.

The children have some Canadian heritage as their father inherited some Indigenous ancestry from his father, whose Native family comes from Canada.

Caleb’s mother has some Native American heritage. I don’t know how much heritage Caleb has, as I don’t believe he signed up to get his ancestry.

My children have white privilege as they do not look Indigenous. My daughter has two adopted children who are Lakota and 2 stepdaughters and a stepson who are Alaskan Native.

Of all of my children and grandchildren, many know some of the Ojibwe language and some have Ojibwe names.

My two biological children grew up knowing my mother and much of my extended family. Because they grew up in the culture, they are more familiar with the culture than many other Native American children/adults who did not grow up that way.

My stepson Caleb came into our family when he was twelve and then was raised knowing about the culture from living with the culture.

Caleb learned the humor at an early age, and he would use some of the teasing on me when he was growing up. He blow-dried saran wrap across the toilet seat one night as everyone knew that I was the only one to go to the bathroom during the night.

I hollered about 3 a.m. one morning, “Damn you, Caleb!” I knew who did it!

Joanna and I were at a concert in the picture below. People say we look alike, and I think she looks like her father. We probably have mannerisms that contribute to our looking alike.

The photo below is Pat with his two nephews (Joanna’s boys) who are now taller than him. They were almost taller than him at 15 and 16, and Pat was 6'2". I am shrinking and they continue to grow!

Caleb's birthday photo below when he turned 50 this year!! He thanked everyone for the birthday wishes. How can I be a parent to a 50 year old?

We are not sure where we will be going for my birthday. Suggestions are welcome in the comments! Thank you!

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First published by Penny Press on medium.com