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Thoughts While Shaving I recently was in the company of a young lady celebrating her 16th birthday… and it brought back memories about one of my early memorable birthdays. There are a few dates that “stand out”… 16h birthday, and birth dates of loved ones, highlighted by children and grandchildren.

There was no official drivers education training during the early 50’s, but there was training…OJT…On the job training… like riding the unpaved roads in our neighborhood… Where else was I to learn?

A 16th birthday should not be on a Saturday or Sunday, that requires waiting until Monday to visit the drivers license office. In the early 50’s the office was at what is now the NC Highway Patrol office on US 701 south of Elizabethtown. Ed Sutton was the examiner and he was tough… Best I could tell…he enjoyed attempting to “shake one up”…to see how you would react to a distraction.

My task was to drive him to the Post Office in Elizabethtown and at that time it was located on Broad Street where First South Bank is located.

As we were heading out of town, near Potter Motor Co, (now Taco Bell), I was near the center line and he screamed…about getting back in my lane using Mr. Ed type words…Just Mr.Ed being “Ed” I learned later. Over the years I got to know him better. He was a character. He helped to make my 16th birthday a date to remember.

Rainfall in Happy Valley, near Elizabethtown measured nearly 1 inch for Tuesday and Tuesday night…

Roses are red, violets are blue….stop complaining, I’m older than you.

I like birthdays, but I think too many can kill you.

How can you tell that you’re getting old? You go to an antique auction and three people bid on you!

What goes up and never comes down? Your age!