Celebrating Milestones

Milestones. Many are positive--graduation, getting married, becoming a parent, getting that first job, etc. Others are not so pleasant, such as losing a job or loved one, having your heart broken for the first time, and hitting rock bottom, Personally, I've reached all these and more. As part of the growing process, we all need to achieve certain milestones, no matter what the consequences.

One of my favorite things about milestones is looking at significant pop-culture anniversaries for each year. In 2015, we are marking many achievements:

60th Anniversary (1955): Rock and roll was officially born with Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock." TV Series "The Honeymooners, "Captain Kangaroo," "The Mickey Mouse Club," and "Gunsmoke," all made their debuts. We mourned the death of James Dean, who left us much too soon. Popular movies included "Guys and Dolls," "The Seven-Year Itch," "Rebel Without a Cause," "Marty," "Blackboard Jungle," and "East of Eden." Below is my favorite "Honeymooners" episode, "The 99,000 Answer."

50th Anniversary (1965): This year had many musical milestones, including Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," The Rolling Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," and the Beatles' concerts at Shea Stadium. In movies, we saw the release of "The Sound of Music," "Doctor Zhivago,"  "The Greatest Story Ever Told," and "Darling." The James Bond spoof "Get Smart"  also made its TV debut, as well as "I Dream of Jeannie," "F Troop," "I Spy," "The Big Valley," and "Green Acres."

40th Anniversary (1975): "Saturday Night Live," which is still going strong and now watched by my son, and The Jeffersons left "All in the Family" for "that deluxe apartment in the sky." Also premiering were "Welcome Back Kotter," "One Day at a Time," "Barney Miller," and "Wheel of Fortune" (also still running today!). "Born to Run" marked the "real" beginning of Bruce Springsteen's career, and we got caught up in disco fever with "The Hustle."  Movie releases included "Jaws," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and "Dog Day Afternoon." Let's do the time warp again!

30th Anniversary (1985): There were lots of "Brat Pack" movies released in 1985, including "The Breakfast Club, "St. Elmo's Fire," and "Weird Science." Sly Stallone starred in his second "Rambo" feature, and the "Back to the Future" was the biggest hit of the year. The late Whitney Houston had her first #1 hit, and Phil Collins' "No Jacket Required" was a huge solo success.  We were introduced "The Golden Girls" and the Seaver family on "Growing Pains."

25th Anniversary (1990): The "show about nothing" ("Seinfeld"), David Lynch's "Twin Peaks," and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." and "Beverly Hills 90210" all premiered on TV. Movies released that year included the blockbuster "Home Alone," as well as "Pretty Woman," "Dances with Wolves," and "Edward Scissorhands." Pop hits included Madonna's "Vogue," Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 You," and Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love."

20th Anniversary (1995): As if! "Clueless" turned to be the biggest hit of '95 and influenced a whole new language and fashion craze (mini backpacks and fuzzy pens, anyone?). I can't believe "Toy Story" made its debut 20 years ago. We've seen all the sequels since then. "The Brady Bunch Movie" was the surprise hit of the year because it was a parody and a lot of fun. Sadly, we also bade farewell to Jerry Garcia and the Tejano pop star Selena,

10th Anniversary (2005): You Tube and TMZ made their online debuts. Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah's couch,"The Office" made its American TV debut. Popular movies released included "Brokeback Mountain," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "Madagascar," and "Batman Begins." Chris Rock entered our living rooms with his hilarious "Everybody Hates Chris."

At our shop, we offer several games to celebrate life's milestones. One of the first puzzles I created for the shop is a crossword called "The Year You Were Born." The customer provides the year of the celebrant's birthday or anniversary, and we do the research to find significant events from that year. From there, we compile the crossword grid and write the clues.

For those who prefer something simpler, we offer "Born in . . .. " word search. We can also tailor it for a wedding anniversary. Once again, the customer provides the year and we will search for important people who were born in that year.

For kids, we offer the classic "How Many Words Can You Make from Birthday?" game. We can personalize the with your child's photo or any image you wish.

You can find all these and more in the "Birthdays/Anniversaries" section of our shop. We are also planning to offer custom Q&A trivia games with fun facts about the celebrant for party guests.

For a great goody-bag idea or reception ice breaker, we sell custom crosswords. Upon receipt of the customer's order, we send a "Clue Sheet," which contains questions for him/her to complete. We compile the puzzle once we receive the clue sheet. Below is a sample puzzle for a Bat Mitzvah.

For more samples of our puzzles, please see the "Custom Crosswords" section of our shop.

On a personal note, I am deeply saddened this morning by the death of former Governor Mario Cuomo. He was a beacon of hope at a time New York really needed it and made an impact on so many people. It's a shame he chose not to run for president or sit on the Supreme Court. I've also just heard the second big death of 2015 is Donna Douglas (Elly May on "The Beverly Hillbillies"). RIP to both of these icons.

I'll be working on some more games for the shop this weekend. Have a PRINTASTIC day!

Kathy