Life's Been Good To Me So Far

January 8, 1958, was the date the photo above was taken. That's me, Robert Tracy Gupton, on my very first birthday. Today, in 2010, I am celebrating my 53rd. Happy Birthday to me! Those are my dad's hands preventing me from damaging the birthday cake with the one lonely candle on it, so that my mother can get her picture before Daddy lets me dig into my Mama's masterpiece. It's been a long and rocky road I've traveled to get from January 8, 1957, to January 8, 2010. You could count on one hand the towns I've lived in throughout my lifetime (Markham, West Columbia, Lake Jackson, Clute and Huntsville) and my worldly travels have taken me outside the boundaries of the Lone Star State only a few times. I've been married to my childhood sweetheart for almost 30 years. Today is no different than practically every other day over the past 28 years. Our sons have been the most important part of my life, and will continue to be so until I'm dropped into my eternal resting place. Grandkids are pretty neat too. What has changed the most due to the passage of time is my appearance. I can't see that I have changed much on the inside or in the way I think and approach life in general. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I will be lucky enough to still be around well into my 80s or even my 90s, but fate may have other ideas when it comes to my longevity. I don't drink much, never smoked, stay out of bars and places I shouldn't be, so unless the ol' ticker gives out on me prematurely or I step in front of a speeding train or vehicle, odds are I'm not calling it quits anytime soon. Though the outer shell is definitely showing more than its share of wear and tear, and I'm definitely slowing down more than a little, age to me is really only a number. And I've finally reached the number my childhood hero, Dennis Gaubatz, wore on his Detroit Lions and Baltimore Colts' jersey . . . 53. I also like the Texans' Mario Williams a lot too. He wears number 90. So from here on out I will be trying to reach the same age as Super Mario's uniform number. Wish me luck on my journey, while taking a gander at a few of my baby pictures. The one above is taken with the woman I owe my life to, my beloved mother Verna Mae Giesler Gupton. I sure do miss you Mama!

The photos above and below represent a couple of firsts for me. I presume the photo above was the first time my mother took me to a professional photographer for some snapshots. The phrase, "Your mother dresses you funny," definitely applied in this instance. I guess it was because my father had served in the U.S. Navy during World War II that Verna Mae got the idea to dress her new baby boy in a sailor outfit for his studio posing debut. My big brother wore a bow tie and a checked shirt at this photo shoot. I also have pictures of me and him together from this same sitting. And the photo below is most likely my first porno opportunity, baring the ol' naked backside for Mama's camera. Pretty sexy, huh? Now I have about the same amount of hair as I did over 52 years ago.

I am pictured above when I was three-and-a-half months old. I was born at the hospital in Bay City, Texas, like my older brother Cody before me. My family lived in rent houses in Markham, Texas, until I was five years old. Our father worked at the Ohio Oil Company (later renamed Marathon Oil) refinery near Markham so we lived near Rex's jobsite until his father passed away. Then my parents built a new home across the backyard from my grandmother's house in West Columbia, and we moved to the new house in 1962. Since I did not start school until the fall of 1963, and I did not attend kindergarten, I was able to spend my entire school career, from first grade through my senior year in high school, in West Columbia. My older brother Cody started school in Markham. Today, nearly 48 years after moving into that new brick home on Gupton Lane, my wife of almost 30 years and I call that same house our home. We moved into it with our sons following the death of my father in 2001.

I was Christened at the Methodist church in West Columbia at some point during my first year of life in 1957. Holding me in the photo below is my godmother, my dad's sister Ruby Nell Gupton Fontenot, shown with her husband, my godfather Vito Corleone (actually that's my dad's brother-in-law, Kirby Fontenot). Uncle Kirby and Aunt Ruby were chosen as my godparents because they had no children of their own. When I got a little older the Fontenots would keep me one week each summer at their Bellaire home. I really miss them tremendously, as I do my grandparents, pictured above. Samuel Morris "Buff" and Mattie Eula Meadows Gupton of West Columbia were captured for posterity by my mother's camera, showing off their newest little grandbaby. I was number eight of Eula and Buff's nine grandchildren, my sister Kelly joining the Gupton family three years later.

My mother was forced to tolerate a house full of boys until my little sister came along in 1960. Kelly Renee Gupton, born in Wharton, Texas, on March 22, 1960, is pictured above at two weeks old in a photo taken with her big brothers in our parents' bed in the home our parents rented from the Hellers in Markham, Texas. In the photo below our father, Rex Gupton, proudly displays his three children for Mama's camera. That's me on the left (at three years old) and my six-year-old brother Cody on the right. I can't even imagine how boring life would have been growing up without Cody and Kelly as my playmates and siblings.

Tonight my wife Peggy is treating me and our sons to a birthday meal at P.F. Chang's restaurant in Sugar Land. Last year at this time A Taste Of Texas restaurant in Houston was the site for the big birthday feast in honor of both myself and my new daughter-in-law, Tiffanie Hatley Gupton. I am pictured above with the special birthday cake supplied by the restaurant waiting staff on my 52nd birthday. At the time Tiffanie and Brian were engaged, but the newlyweds were married on October 17th, 2009, and now make their home in Houston. Joining us for the birthday celebration at A Taste Of Texas last January were Joe and Tina Hatley and their daughters Tiffanie and Nicole, me and my wife Peggy and our sons Brian, Bret and Blake.

Pictured above on my 34th birthday is a gathering of immediate family, which is how I have celebrated the majority of my fifty-some-odd birthdays. Since my wife Peggy is not in the photo, she obviously was snapping the picture. Shown, from left to right, are my "baby boy" Devon Blake Gupton, my father Rex Gupton, my mother Verna Gupton, our middle son Stephen Bret Gupton, the eldest son Brian Leslie Gupton, and the birthday boy, Robert Tracy Gupton. I was blessed with the greatest parents anyone could have, both of whom went out of their way each year to provide memorable Christmases and birthday parties for each of their three children. Both Rex and Verna are gone now, so I have to give credit where credit is due. Peggy and our sons have taken the necessary steps to fill the void left by Mom and Dad, making me continue to feel special every January 8th when my birthday comes around. Thanks a million guys! I love each of you with all of my heart.