I was surely an unfortunate-looking kid, with those teeth coming in all over the place and my cat-eye glasses and sort of everything else. I looked nearly as unfortunate as that birthday cake.

My grandparents weren’t close (physically or emotionally) and decorating this birthday cake with my grandmother is practically the only memory I have of doing anything with her. That’s really sad and weird, but it’s just the way things landed.

And speaking of landing, check out the way that nasty ashtray landed itself right in the middle of the table, right there by my sister’s milk.

Sonora, Texas
scanned family photo – 1964