Valentine's Week Continues: Guess Who Has A Birthday?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Above is my entry for Friday's Fences. It's the split rail fence in my front yard that you've seen before, but today I've decorated it just for you.
Not only is it Valentine's Day but it's my birthday and it's a milestone for me. Today I am a young 60 years old. Young because I don't feel old even though some days my body reminds me I am. I've earned every gray hair and wrinkle I try to cover so I accept the inevitable truth - I am growing old. Last night I read a quote by Sophia Loren - "There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love." That sounds like a plan to me and along with lots of laughter and joy I'll see where this next decade takes me.

I thought it might be fun to have a look back. My Mom has our old photos but I found a couple I thought I'd share. These were taken when I turned eleven years old. There was always a box of candy for me as well as one for each of my two brothers. (No, I didn't get gifts on their birthdays.)
My gifts that year were a new pair of tennis shoes and a doll. I hated wearing any other kind of shoe even in winter.  The doll is Barbie's famous boyfriend, Ken. I still have him. It makes me sad to think that eleven year old girls today are already past playing with dolls. I remember happy times playing with mine.
I can't remember why we had such a huge valentine mailbox. I have a fuzzy memory that I volunteered to make it for my school classroom or maybe for our 4-H group.
Goodness, would you look at that TV! Three channels and you had to get up to change them.
We can IGNORE the cheesy smile - can't we???

I'm guessing that's a piece of birthday cake I'm eating and it would have been homemade by my Mom.  Check out the Valentine taped to the wall. I'm guessing my brother or I one made it at school for Mom.
Then there's my fashion sense- ha! That jumper was made of red corduroy. It was one of my favorite outfits. What do you think of my short hair?  It was much shorter than this. This is the growing out stage of a pixie haircut first popularized in the 60's by Mia Farrow and Twiggy. I loved that haircut.
Hope you enjoyed these flashbacks with me. It was nice visiting with that young girl again.
I'll be around to visit all of you sometime later. Right now Hubby has a dozen roses sitting on the dining room table and he's going to make a chocolate cake with chocolate icing  - my favorite - and there's a bowl of Hershey's chocolate nuggets too.... I think 60 is reason enough to splurge don't you!!!
Hope you have a wonderful day filled with love and CHOCOLATE!!!!
Linking to Friday's Fences.