I called my mother at mid-afternoon on July 29. The question was always same, as was the answer.
Howd you feel (a certain number of) years ago? Great! Id just had a wonderful baby boy.
I, of course, was the baby, born at 2:20 p.m. on July 29, 1943.
In 2000, I didnt get to make the call; she died 10 months earlier. Such traditions are hard to give up, much less forget.
Mom (Violet Johnson) and I were close because we never were apart the first two and a half years of my life.