The 70s were cool

I'm going to set aside my rants for the next few posts and write a series on my childhood in the seventies.  From about 1963 to approximately 1977 my family lived in a small house on Pendleton Street in Harlingen Texas.  The neighborhood was basically all the same style homes, built in the late 1940's and 1950's.  Probably to sell to the world war II veterans.  I lived there with my two younger sisters and my parents.  The house was small, but I thought it was huge.  It was just a simple 3 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, kitchen and a den.  I thought my parents were rich and that we had it made.

I recently took the family down to Dallas, Texas to visit my dad and two sisters, Janet and Brenda, Janet is the youngest.  While there I took the time to transfer all of my dad's Super 8 film to digital files.  These videos are basically the only record of my childhood.  Here is the first video that I created.

This video was created on my 12th birthday in 1973.  What makes this film so memorable is that my mom used trick candles on the cake.  When you blew them out they would relight.  This film has been a source of fun and laughter with my family for years.  You will see me cry and actually start to get frustrated.  Check out the background and you will see some really cool 1970's fixtures.  The orange bike I am riding in this film was probably the best gift my parents ever game me as a kid.  I loved that bike and rode it everywhere.  You even get a glimpse of my mothers cool Ford XL and my dad's International Scout.  I left the comments that everyone made while I was doing the transfer.  The loudest of the crew is my sister Janet.  She is the one sitting in the high chair and standing next to me while I was on the bike.