Column: The Whiteboard Jungle: Sometimes it’s good to put birthdays, ages in perspective
“Put another candle on my birthday cake, I’m another year old today.”
For those of you old enough to remember Sheriff John, that was the song he sang on his children’s TV show that aired from 1952 to 1970.
It’s a song I think of every time I have a birthday as I did on April 1.
In my family, the biggest April Fools’ joke was me being born. The story my mother always related was that her doctor told her I was to arrive on April 4. When I came early, he told her, “April Fools!”
Actually, I always liked that I was born on a special day of any kind since my father was born on Christmas.
I was lucky to have a few memorable birthday celebrations.
There was my 6th birthday held at a themed restaurant with a live damsel in distress-type of revue with food delivered via a model train. After the show, all children celebrating a birthday were invited on stage to shake the hands of the actors. The man playing the villain hid popcorn in his hand so when he shook mine I felt the crunched corn.
At age 11, my party took place at a miniature golf course on Magnolia Boulevard near Catalina Street in Burbank. I didn’t enjoy myself though because I had the worst score of all my buddies.
The most unusual birthday was my 16th birthday, which wasn’t a party at all since I was hospitalized with a skin condition at UCLA Medical Center.
For my 50th, my family arranged an overnight trip in Palm Springs where we ate dinner at the Bing Crosby restaurant (no longer there).
Then last year, we went to the horse races at Santa Anita. (Good thing we didn’t do it this year, right?)
I feel lucky that my health is good, despite how old I may appear. Just last weekend a man thought I was my 15-year-old’s grandfather. Look, I know I’m no spring chicken, but I’m not Larry King either.
What’s weird is that I have now outlived my father. It made me wonder about famous people who I have outlived as well.
Here is a partial list: Joan of Arc (19), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (35), Marilyn Monroe (36), Vincent Van Gogh (37), George Gershwin (38), Martin Luther King Jr. (39), Edgar Allan Poe (40), Elvis Presley (42), Nat King Cole (45), Judy Garland (47), William Shakespeare (52), Jackie Robinson (53), Abraham Lincoln (56), and Virginia Wolfe (59).
When thinking about their contributions, I feel quite inadequate. However, there is still hope for those of us over 60.
Dame Judi Dench has received seven Oscar nominations since she was over 60.
Mahatma Gandhi was 61 when he did his famous Salt March protesting British rule in India.
Colonel Harland Sanders was 62 when he began franchising Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants.
Laura Ingalls Wilder was 64 years old when she published her first book, which inspired the popular TV series “Little House on the Prairie.”
Noah Webster took 26 years to finish his dictionary when he was 66 years old.
Benjamin Franklin was 70 when he signed the Declaration of Independence.
Nelson Mandela was 75 when he was elected president of South Africa.
Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses began painting at age 76.
Astronaut and Sen. John Glenn at age 77 was the oldest person to travel in space.
Also at 77, Frank Sinatra’s “Duets” was the second best-selling album in the country behind Pearl Jam’s latest release.
So, to those of you in my age range, to quote from one of Sinatra’s songs, “the best is yet to come.” And that’s no joke.
Brian Crosby is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District and the author of “Smart Kids, Bad Schools” and “The $100,000 Teacher.” He can be reached at www.brian-crosby.com.
