I'll need some ID....

     Since I am a 16 year old boy trapped in an old man's body, Wednesday was a day to make me feel old enough to have babysat Moses.  Today was my oldest daughter Ashleigh's 21st birthday.  In the immortal words of Faith Hill..."WHAT"!  21 YEARS!!! 

     This was possibly the most famous baby ever born in Wichita Kansas.  I was working for KKRD doing mornings in 1985.  We of course had been tracking the baby's progress for some time so the audience was well aware of her impending arrival.  We called her "Rusty" because we were sure she would have red hair like her mother. She does have red hair sometimes, but that changes daily.  Listeners and advertisers sent a multitude of gifts.  One listener named Doug Harper actually dropped off an envelope with a hundred dollar bill in it.  It took me a couple of years but I finally found Doug and thanked him personally.

     KWCH channel 12 covered her birth pretty thoroughly.  Kevin Nunn and I paced the hallway of the hospital together and it was fun.  Kevin would have me and Ashleigh on the noon show periodically to follow her growth.  We have it all on video so Ashleigh can show her kids how famous she is.

     So much has happened in her 21 years...the Challenger disaster, the Dow-Jones average has gone from 1000 to 12,000, 2 major wars in the gulf region, the cd has become the main source for recorded music.  I got my first computer when she was about three.  It was Boeing surplus and had a 40 mb hard drive!  My watch has a bigger hard drive than that.  Windows hadn't been invented yet, we had to learn dos commands.  The twin towers fell.  Possibly the most historic period in history.  I will point out that I never once won a Parent of the Year award.  Might have been because I took my kids tornado chasing on occasion.

     Anyway, it just doesn't seem possible that she was born 21 years ago almost to the hour I am writing this.  So, if you see my daughter out celebrating her birthday tonight in the Westport area of Kansas City, do me a favor and wish her a happy birthday....and hold her hair for her so she doesn't get barf in it