Mother Mary

[L Verge]

I did not know that my mother had never had a birthday party in her life until I threw a surprise one for her 70th birthday. My grandmother was born during the high Victorian age, 1874, and her family did not believe in birthday parties outside of the immediate family. She was 40 when my mother was born and chose not to have parties for her children either.

Luckily, the non-party tradition stopped there. From about age 5, I remember great parties that my mother held for me. In fact, at my 50th high school reunion, several of my friends told me how they remembered the parties -- and how great it was that my house had a big enough dining room for everyone to fit around the table. Mom must have been the Mary Lincoln of her day.