Reposting: Birthday Present for Me

For my birthday, I am reposting this image of myself with my parents, receiving a birthday present. The original photo was taken by my uncle, Ike Fitterman, and I added color and posterized it back in 2010. I would like to express belated thanks for the present of the slip. And for the little party.  I am also grateful for this photo, because even though my parents were together till death parted them in 1983 when my mother died,  I don't have that many photos of myself with both parents.  In fact, I am grateful that my parents met at all, through circumstances created by World War II, when my father -- from Brooklyn -- was stationed in Pueblo, Colorado, and met my mother at a USO dance in 1942. They married just before he was shipped overseas to do his bit against the Nazis.  And I am grateful that he came home safe from World War II, because of course I wouldn't have been born otherwise!  I am grateful for many things my parents taught me, and for many things they gave me, but beyond anything else, I am grateful for my life, the first gift they gave me.  I often think about that, but here in February of 2021, I think it is time to say it.  It is a gift to be alive, and I am grateful for it.