Baby Boom

Ahh... 2004, the year mr. bon turned 50; and a great many of our friends and relatives too. As a tail-ender-baby-boomer and mr. bon's much younger wife, I had a great time that year keeping a tally of all the golden birthday parties we were invited to. Even Oprah Winfrey and John Travolta were included on my list when they joined the five-oh club. Though, I'm still awaiting the arrival of the actual invitation for those soirees.

As my total climbed to upward of 34 people by year's end, I began to understand that baby boom wasn't just a marketer's dream but a real, live, kicking and breathing, history making event of our time. When you come in on the tail end of something like this you don't really understand it's ramifications - until 50 years later when your mailbox starts filling up with all those invitations.

I only mention this era because, just this week, our social circle began to show signs of its own little boomlet. Four of our friends (the other friends, not the boomers) announced that they are expecting their first little bundles of joy in the near future; there is even a set of twins on the way! With due- dates ranging from June to early September, it's going to be a busy summer of trips to the Baby Gap, flowery baby showers oozing with crepe paper and squealing women, and hours spent waiting by the phone to hear word whether to buy pink or more blue.

Each of these couples will spend their summer gradually evolving from D.I.N.Ks to proud parents; a transformation I love to watch. A transformation mr. bon's mom can appreciate too. Fifty years ago today, she delivered sons numbers 3 and 4, the little cuties in the wheel barrel above. Congratulations to her as she celebrates enduring more than half a century (gasp) of parenting and her own magnificent contributions to the baby boom.