And by BIG I don't mean crowds of guests, I mean it's a big number. Can't deny it, can't put it off any longer.

No gifts and it's bring your own food and drink. Wear what you want. Show up whenever you want to.

There might be a couple of sad stories here, but mostly it will be a fun celebration. And mostly it's going to be about what-we-wore. So join in if you want to, tune out if you aren't interested.

Ok--this week I turn 80. Yes that's 80 years. Old. I know there are other Fabbers out there who beat me too it, and I'm proud to join this group.

Let me tell you a story first.

A few weeks before the Pearl Harbor attack, two babies were born two weeks apart at the same hospital. The family of the younger moved 700 miles away within a couple of months. 19 years later her family moved back to her birthplace, where my family still lived.

I had a part time job while attending college and in the summer between freshman and sophomore years I was assigned to train a new employee. I soon noticed that she took the same bus home after work that I did, but got off about a half-mile before my stop. Soon we sat together, and then we went to some parties and despite our lives taking different paths, today we are still friends. Much later we discovered we'd both been born weeks apart in the same hospital. On 9/11/01 we were celebrating our 60th on a cruise ship on the Aegean Sea. We'd been to Santorini and got back aboard the ship where one of the crew told us the news.

We had planned to go on another trip this year, not so grand, but that has been postponed.

I don't remember WWII, but I do remember we had a victory garden, and I remember when my uncle came home from the War. He was released in 1946, having been drafted in 1940. I had cousins who had been in the military, but I didn't know that until much later. I don't remember any of them ever talking about the war.

Whenever I have a question about our family past, I ask my older sister, who has a great memory. She remembers the family trauma when my Dad was notified he'd been re-classified 1-A. The war ended before he had to go. He did work at the Remington Arms Plant during the War.

I remember Duck and Cover drills in grade school. They showed us a movie once where an airplane dropped a bomb on a ship below. Whenever I heard a plane overhead at night I was afraid.

I spent many months confined to bed while in grade school with rheumatic fever. I don't remember ever feeling sick. So disappointed the first time when I was 5 and told I couldn't go to the church picnic at the park. I had many restrictions on my activities. Boo.

I'd just begun high school when I caught the Asian flu. I stayed home and watched events in Little Rock, Arkansas. I remember Sputnik because right after that, the schools were searching out the smart kids so we could catch up with the Russians.

One day I came home from Jr. High--maybe age 14--and my mother said "you've got to watch this TV show!" So I did, and soon all my friends watched it too. We thought the clothes they wore were strange, not knowing they were 2 years ahead of us. That was American Bandstand. Thanks Mom.

And I was thrilled when the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the NY Yankees for the first time after 7 years of losses. No idea how I became a Dodgers fan.

I feel fortunate that I enjoy good health, not without aches and pains. That childhood illness left me without residual effects. My old friend hasn't been so lucky.

If you've made it this far, thanks for bearing with me.

That's enough for now. Almost every Monday afternoon my friend from college and I Skype for 2-3 hours. We have a glass of wine and some snacks. She lives south near Newport Beach and I live north in Silicon Valley. Lately we've been talking a lot about turning 80. And most importantly, What Are We Going to Wear?

#1 I don't know how old I was when this was taken.
#2 In the Victory Garden. I think I made those bead necklaces myself. I remember doing threading beads on a shoelace. I also remember when we had a bonfire and then Dad planted lawn instead of vegetables.
#3 This must be Easter. Probably before my younger sister was born.