Fifty-one years ago today I became a mother for the first time. That day will always be one of my favorite memories. As I held my little girl in my arms I whispered to her that we would be best friends. All the fun we would have – shopping, reading books, playing games, singing songs.

I thought then that I had all the time in the world with this little one. I was wrong. Too quickly she became a toddler getting into everything. Then a little girl off to school. Her first day of school she gave me a scare as she did not get off the bus at our street. We still laugh about that day, but at the moment I was one frightened mother.

First Day at School

Then a teenager. Although we often hear parents complaining about teenagers I found the years when my daughters were teenagers some of the happiest of my life.

Finally she was a young woman in love. Then came marriage – and later three beautiful children making me a grandmother. Time has passed too quickly and she is now a grandmother (which means I am a great-grandmother). How did that happen?

Fifty one years – looking back at 1970 – what a difference.

In 1970 prices were:

• Hershey’s candy bar – $.15
• gallon of milk – $1.15
• dozen eggs – $.62
• pound of coffee – $.91
• loaf of bread – $.25
• can of Coke – $.10
• average movie ticket – $1.55
• postage stamp – $.06
• median cost of house – $26,600
• average cost of car – $3,500

Of course, income was much less then also. Median wages was $8,734

The top 10 TV shows were:

• Marcus Welby M.D.
• The Flip Wilson Show
• Here’s Lucy
• Ironside
• Gunsmoke
• ABC Movie of the Week
• Hawaii Five-o
• Medical Center
• Bonanza
• The F.B.I.

How times have changed. We did not have cell phones. The first commercially available cellphone was developed by Motorola and went on sale in the U.S. in 1984. The phone was huge, cost $3,995.00 and was only good for about thirty minutes of use before you had to charge the battery again.

Other technolgies we did not have in 1970:

• MRI – 1977
• e-mail – 1971
• post-it note – 1974
• Rubik’s Cube – 1974
• first commercial barcode scan – 1974
• Apple computer – 1976
• Sony Walkman – 1979

Looking back over these fifty-one years, while life has changed in so many ways – not only in my family but in my country, one thing remains true.

I have not lost that magical feeling of being a mother. Although my daughter now lives hundreds of miles from me and I do not get to see her as much as I would like, when I hear her voice on the phone or get a text, my heart still smiles.

Happy birthday dear Rebekah!