Happy Birthday, Ada!

Arlee Bird and daughter Ada circa 1985.

       For some reason I always remembered that I was in Colorado when I first received the phone call.   Maybe it had been Fort Morgan or Sterling or even some other town in Colorado.   But I was looking over some old records that I had kept during that time and now it appears I may have actually been in Texas.

        In my mind I still have a fairly good picture of the school we were playing that night.  It was a modern high school with shiny wide halls.  The auditorium was a topnotch facility with a big clean stage, new looking curtains, and excellent lighting that could be adjusted for color and intensity.  This was the kind of a stage that made the show look good and the backstage operate with efficiency.

        The date was September 26th.  We were on the 1982 World of Fantasy tour of "The Magic of Cinderella".   My wife Susan had left the show in August in order to go back to Tennessee to have our first child.  As the day of delivery grew nearer I began to keep Susan informed of the phone numbers of the motels where we'd be staying and the auditoriums where we'd be playing.   This was before cell phones and on-the-spot easy access at any time.

        When the phone call came I was in the back of the auditorium operating the spotlight.  There was no doubt that a phone call at this time meant something was happening as far as the arrival of our new child.  Testing early on let us know that a girl was on the way so we had picked the name ahead of time--Ada Rachel.

        I'm guessing now that I was in Texas that night when Ada was born.  Where I was is incidental I suppose, but what I know is that on this date in 1982 I was blessed with a wonderful daughter who has given me much happiness in the time she's been on this Earth.  And now she's given me three beautiful grandchildren.

        Thank you, Ada, for many years of happiness.   I'm very proud of you!

Arlee Bird escorts daughter Ada on her wedding day.