68 years ago

[bill_schubert]

I'm not a huge fan of birthday parties.  Or presents.  My birthday or anyone's has always created stress for me.  But as I get older it does bring some space for thought.

I saw this on our TV last night during the news and immediately thought of my mom:

When I was young my mom used to say in an off hand way how late I was being born and how hot it was.  I always took that as one of those 'we had to walk to school up hill both ways in the snow' kind of statements.  That was before the Internet and before all information that ever has existed was available.  One day I looked it up.

I was born in Kansas City this week 68 years ago.  It was, in fact, a record heat wave and I was several weeks late in arriving.  This was before air conditioning.  Mom was 30 years old.  It was back when taking a picture of a pregnant woman was considered poor form but since I came in over nine pounds I'm guessing that 68 years ago right now she was huge and hot and as uncomfortable as she could be.  

Many years later she took me out to a field very late at night to look for Sputnik passing overhead, the only man made thing in the sky.  I was 4.

A few years after that she got me up at 4 in the morning to see Ikeya-Seki.  I was 12.

In retrospect Mom had a lot of very intellectual interests.  Astronomy.  Theater.  The Plantagenets.  She was, rather scandalously, a fan of Billie Holiday when she was a kid.  She was an avid tennis player and a self taught and excellent cook.  And an extraordinary hostess when that used to mean something.  And she would knit me sweaters so that I could be warm when I was out skiing.

But this week 68 years ago she was huge and could not get comfortable sitting in front of the fan and just wanted to be rid of me.  

Likely I was happier where I was. 

Comments

[susandennis]

I love that you remember her for astronomy. She never woke me for the star stuff. With good reason. I remember her being fascinated by architecture. And playing tennis in that heat. I remember when they brought you home from the hospital and I have no recollection of the heat. funny.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Funny but I don't remember the architecture.

I don't much remember the heat either. I was busy.

[susandennis]

for a woman who wasn't all that interested in having children, she did a damn good job of being a mom

[maju01.livejournal.com]

Your poor mother! Being pregnant seems to generate a whole lot of heat even in cold weather.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can't even imagine. She was tough.

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely memories of your mother. Happy birthday!

My dad was born on July 25, 1934. He was taken early because his mother was extremely ill (we still don't know what she had) and died soon after. In 1995 Chicago had a terrible heat wave that killed over 700 people, mostly elderly. I heard on the car radio that it was the worst since 1934, and the record was set on July 25, 1934. My poor grandmother. Ill, pregnant, and in a hospital before air conditioning.

Both of my parents remembered sleeping in the front yard when it was too hot to sleep in the house. This was nothing compared to Texas, I'm sure.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Wow. Yeah, life before A/C is difficult to imagine. Close as I got was Maine. In 1976 it was 104 with no AC but I was young and healthy and not pregnant. And NYC a few years later but at least we had a window unit.

The northern cities are not ready for the heat of climate change. A lot more people are going to have the same experience as 1995 Chicago.

[taz-39.livejournal.com]

Whoever invented air conditioning should be a national hero with their own holiday. (Willis Carrier)

It's pretty neat that your mom told you the story of the day you were born. Not all parents do that, or can remember the details to do that.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

I think it was more tongue in cheek complaining. 9 pounds, weeks late, hottest month on record. But always with a smile.

[alefy]

Happy Birthday :).
I was born in winter your hemisphere, but since when I moved to Australia, I celebrate a ‘summer birthday’ :). These things are curious.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

In the U.S., of course, we don't much consider any other hemisphere. They just have it wrong. I can hardly imagine what it would be like to grow up in Australia and see U.S. Christmas movies. So confusing. Much less Singapore where things are just hot all the time.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Nice to hear you reminisce about your mother.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Doubly fun when I get to bounce it off my sister here in LJ. She was 4 when I was born so has a somewhat different perspective.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Likely I was happier where I was.

Likely ... You were swimming in that heat wave of 1953. :)