Happy Birthday, Janine

Okay. Here's another cat out of the bag. This time it's Janine who is having a birthday. When she was two years old, she found a penny somewhere. She had a yen for chewing gum but I never let her have any because I thought she would choke on it, plus I didn't like anyone chewing gum at all. So, clutching her penny, she took off for the grocery store. She had about a six-block walk and knew the way because I used to walk there, pulling them in our wagon. The whole neighborhood turned out to look for her when we realized she had wandered off. It was my next-door neighbor who found her tricycle at the end of our street and then, after looking into the canal and studying the banks of the canal, he kept going across the bridge and onto the next street, and there she was. She was talking to some people, telling them she was going to the store to buy gum, showing her penny as she talked. I will never forget the tears on his face as he drove up, and her angry little face looking out the window. She had a penny but no gum. I also was angry. I had no penny and I had no gum -- but I did have a sweet little girl with yellow curls and big blue eyes and a very independent spirit so I didn't stay angry. She was safe. I was blessed then and I am blessed today. Happy Birthday, Janine.