I turn 60 today.

I turn 60 years old today – July 6, 2017. I am the 5^th of the 7 Piette kids. I am almost exactly 2 years younger than my next oldest sister, six years younger than my next oldest sister, 7 ½ years younger than my next oldest brother and 8 ½ years younger than the oldest in the family. I am 4 years older than my younger sister and almost 6 years older than my younger brother.

So this is going to be about me. I am not generally comfortable writing about myself, but what the heck. I made it to 60, and I suppose that is something.

I was born on a Saturday, at 11:30 in the morning. A big boy for the time, seven pounds something. (I need to find the birth certificate or my baby book) They took me home to 714 S Pierce Ave in Appleton – the home where I grew up, and we only sold in 2015, 60 years after my folks bought the house. Roots.

My father worked for Kimberly Clark his whole career, and my mother stayed at home with all the kids. All. Those. Kids. I can’t imagine what it might have been like growing up in a small family. As a matter of fact, one of my earliest memories is when the whole family was driving around town. (that was one of our fun activities. Driving around town and singing. Songs like “There is a tavern in the town”, “Tie a yellow ribbon”, and “Blood upon the Risers”). One of the older kids look at me and said, “Dan, you’re the baby of the family.” I was, understandably upset (I was not yet four!) and replied “I’m only the baby until mom has another one!” Everyone laughed. (A bit of pronunciation here. We all called our mother “Mum”, but I can remember her distinctly telling me that when I write it down, I need to write “Mom”. Her wish…)