Most of my family has been farmers, no matter if they were also factory workers, teachers, lawyers, soldiers, restaurant owners, retail workers, carpenters, you name it.
USUALLY they were farmers too.
That's just how it was.
If you had ground to work at least there was a garden going.
ALSO...
In my family March is a time for birthdays.
So I GUESS you could say the previous July was a very busy month historically for my family......
OH, Suzanna!
Any way, both farming and birthdays were the switch in gears that pulled my family out of the winter dens to brush off the wood ash from the stove and breathe some fresh almost spring air.
(Remember how when ever I read about my genealogy the term FOREBEARS always pops up? Well I thought I would start referring to us as though we were/are those bears I am always hearing of...hence the use of "dens" in the above.)
My son's birthday was the 7th.
And so of course that started the motherly boo hoo fest that lasted for 24 hours and ended in swollen nasal passages and longing for my grown 24 year old child six hours away from me. (And incidentally made me cling to my much younger six year old still home with me all that much more.) He is 100% what the typical American USED to be viewed as - a mutt. Just going back to his Great Grandparents he is: Irish/Polish+ French/Spanish and IrishIrishIrish/German+ Scottish/German. There is Catholic and Jewish and Protestant and Anglican and Quaker and Pentecostal and maybe even some American Indian beliefs in there, heck I don't know. The kid is a mess I tell ya... Actually, he is really well rounded and a more solid character I have yet to see in a while.
My father's 75th birthday is today, March 11th.
(My father is the #1 Flawed Hero of my life. Thank you Mom and Dad for deciding to get hitched and have too many kids- of which I am the LAST one....) Dad's humble beginnings and his dedication to working to constantly improve his life are what drew him to my mother. Mom, the black haired beauty with the quick wit (and mouth? "WATCH IT SUZANNA GAYLE!") was just what he was looking for to launch his empire of Johnsons along the banks of the Garrison Creek...hahaha. Actually if you ask them both they probably had no idea WHAT they were doing! I am just glad they did it!
HIS brother's birthday is March 13th.
(Although, Uncle Robert is older than Dad, his antics all throughout his life has always made me THINK he was the younger one when I was small! ) Uncle Robert is only comparable to Uncle Si on Duck Dynasty, but actually he could teach Uncle Si a thing or two about being an awe inspiring Uncle. He too, chose his wife VERY well. Aunt Donna is a SAINT! That's all there is to say about THAT!
MY older sister's REPEATED celebration of her 16th birthday is March 17th....
(She is the dark haired beauty with the icy BLUE eyes! Every bit of the paternal Irish Pearson/Murphy comes out in her I tell you! And a bit of the crazy Scottish from Mom's side oozing out every once in a while!) My sister was my mother's chief of staff in our house! My sister has said that there are so many Johnsons that the last time she got to go to the bathroom alone she was 14 months old - when my oldest brother was born! She will just LOVE that I told that one..... My sister's character LOOKS more wild and crazy than mine...but SHE is the one that has constantly tried to teach me "what a lady is supposed to do" since I jumped onto the scene(I was born breech with my feet first!). I just didn't listen too well, I guess. I dress conservatively, but I am the one with all the hair brained ideas!
April and May are also big birthday months for my family, but March seemed to just burst forth and break through the icy winter with party after party and spring cleaning and spring farming and planting to do.
It was and is one of my favorite months.
We have days like yesterday - in the upper 60s and just so nice!
And today- almost 50's and over cast, but hints of spring popping out all over!
We are truly blessed!
Happy March!
-Suzanna
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