This year is a bumper year in the Whelbourn household. Well in the Canadian one anyway. It is one of those years when all the stars are aligned and birthdays are all hitting key dates.

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Gemma is 18 on March 1st, (shame the drinking age is 19 in New Brunswick).

Kathryn is 21 on 24th July (We celebrate 21 as the key to the door, but she already has one to this house).

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Last but not least,,....... drum rolllllllll....... I am 50 on March 16th . 

I have been around for half a century (as Gemma kindly reminded me). I can remember not having colour TV, nor central heating, a coal house out back.

• I remember Manchester Utd beating Benefica in the European Cup.
• I remember England winning the world cup.
• The space race, Men on the moon.
• Decimalisation from old money (which looked nicer, weighed more and seem to last longer).
• I remember beer at 25p a pint, Petrol at 69p a GALLON (when I filled up my Ford Escort MlII with 8 gallons).
• I remember the original versions of half the songs in the charts these days.
• I remember school dinners costing 1 shilling a day
• Going to the saturday morning matinee at the local cinema to watch cartoons (mighty mouse)and the Lone Ranger for 1s 3d and having 3d for sweets
• Wearing shorts to school until you were 11 years old and graduating to long trousers
• The raising of the school leaving age to 16 ..... I was so pissed that I had to stay on an extra year.
• Joining the army and being paid 4 pound a week in 1976 (they put 2 pound in a savings account so I came out with 2 pound)
• When girls didn't swear, spit, and boys didn't swear in front of girls
• and on and on and on

OK thats your lot of wallowing in nostalgia lets get on with being alive  (and no the dark glasses don't match my cane, they make me look cool)