My First Birthday

I’ve been going through some old photo albums recently, just looking for funny or cool pictures to possibly post and write about. I’ve wanted to actually go through and scan every picture, but it’s such a daunting task. Maybe one day I’ll get around to it.

But this picture caught my attention, and I just had to scan it right away. I’m sure I’ve seen it before, it’s not like it’s from a photo album I had never gone through, but for some reason it just stood out this time around, and is now probably one of my favourite pictures ever!

For my first birthday, in August 1973, my parents had a party in our backyard (to my knowledge the only time they ever did so!) with a bunch of family and friends. I’ve found a dozen or so pictures from that day, but none of the others stood out to me like this one did.

First, the setting. It looks like it was a pretty nice day out. You can see a small part of the corner of our backyard, a number of years before the swing set was set up. On the table, looks like some veal, a big bowl of pasta, those great stubby beer bottles that bring back memories.

Second, me. Just chilling, taking it all in, looking so relaxed and content. Looks like maybe I’m about to be fed something, I’m sure it was delicious!

Third, and my favourite part, my parents. My mother, smile on her face. That hair! My father, slightly out of focus unfortunately, but you can still see him looking at me, smiling as well.

I really wish I could have been there to see what that day was like. I mean, obviously I was there, but oddly enough I have no recollection of that day! I wonder about silly things like: What kind of music was playing? Were there any really funny jokes said? Did anyone knock over a glass and spill beer everywhere? What did people talk about when they left the party and drove home?

Nowadays at a first birthday party, I imagine there are hours of mobile phone video footage, hundreds of pictures taken by everyone, every minute is documented and shared everywhere. But from that late summer day in ’73 all I have are a few faded photos. But I’m very thankful that this ended up being one of them.

I have no idea which family member or friend took this picture, but I want to say thank you to her or him! And thanks to Mom (miss you) and Pop for being such amazing parents to me.