Well, it happened once again. April 28th rolled through here like an 800 ton dump truck and ran me over twice. It's bad enough that birthdays roll around every year but when they not only hit you head on but then back up over you just to make sure you know you have been hit, THAT is the ultimate reminder that you are getting OLDER.
I AM NOT YET OLD . . . . just a bit older. Because, like Peter Pan, I don't want to grow up.
As a kid I LOVED Peter Pan ! I guess even wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back then I knew that Peter and I were kindred spirits. Most kids have a favorite character or person that they want to be when they grow up. Mine was Peter Pan and now I know why. No matter how many years God allows me to remain on this earth I will never grow up.
Now if I could just convince this old body that I am still young that would be a wonderful thing. Looking in the mirror each day I do not see an old lady. I have no idea who that old broad is looking back at me in the bathroom mirror. She is not even vaguely familiar. There was a time when I would look in the mirror and see my dad smiling back at me. I distinctly remember the day when I was in my fifties that I saw my mother looking back at me. I wondered just how that happened because no one ever said I looked like her, I am a Butler through and through. I guess it was just a glimpse of what the future had in store for me. (My mother was only 62 when she died died so I wonder what she would have looked like at 76. It very well may be her face I see in my mirror.)
Yesterday was a good day. It was nothing like the birthdays I had as a child but a good day non the less. When did birthdays become something to be feared rather than excited about ? Was there a magic number that I failed to make note of when a birthday looming on the horizon was like seeing the Grim Reaper standing at your door? Remember that wonderful feeling of anticipation when you changed the calendar and saw that your birthday was "This Month !". From the day after your birthday you started the countdown to your next birthday . . . "Only three hundred and sixty four more days!" (Damn that leap year when you had to wait a WHOLE extra day to celebrate your birthday. ) And remember the day after Christmas when you started making your birthday list of all the things you didn't get for Christmas? Now, when Christmas rolls around you think. "Oh Shit ! I'm going to be, (insert what ever age you will be on your next birthday)! "
When you're a kid the year dragged by from birthday to birthday. Now it seems like you just had a birthday last week when a new one is rearing it's ugly head. Birthdays used to be FUN ! Gifts, cards, cake, noise makers and parties. Now the only gifts you get are ten extra trips to the bathroom and forty two new wrinkles on your face. The only cards you get are advertisements for hearing aids, glasses and a free colon screenings. Instead of having cake for your birthday you have an extra dose of Geritol and some prune juice. No noise makers here at this party because I AM the noise maker. I can't get up from a chair without a full range of sound effects that include grunts, groans, popping noises from my joints and a wide variety of swear words accented by a more than occasional fart !
BUT . . . we can still party ! I remember birthday parties where you invited all your friends, (in my case that was a total of two). You planned what sort of cake you wanted and how it would be decorated. You decorated with balloons and streamers and made goodie bags for your guests. At 76 I am just happy to still be alive ! If you are fortunate enough to be alive AND active you may have some friends over for dinner. (The ultimate celebration is going OUT to eat but some times that just can't or won't happen.) Planning food for the birthday dinner is a chore these days. You need something simple enough so you aren't spending your entire day in the kitchen preparing you own dinner but it has to be something special that you don't have on any old day. After all, this IS your birthday ! You still get to choose your cake but the difference now is that you either have to go to the store to buy it or bake it yourself.
Even with all of the above things to consider I had a very nice birthday this year. Decorating was super easy . . . My grand daughter Kaelin celebrated her 13th birthday in February so I decorated my living room for her "grand ma" party. Then I left up the decorations because K's brother Finn had his birthday in March. Because it was only another month till my birthday the decorations remained up for a full three months. It was a win win for all. Food became a bit more of a challenge but we managed. Keri and family took me out for a wonderful lunch the previous weekend. (The Man does not go out to restaurants any more. too much of a hassle for him with the oxygen.) The day before my birthday my BFF Jeanne and her husband came over for pizza. We were going to have lobster but the price of Maine lobsters is insane so The Man's gift to me was paying for a most delicious pizza. (Last week The Man asked what would I like for my birthday. I suggested a lobster dinner. Since going out to dinner is not an option we started researching buying lobster and eating it at home. We chose to do this on Tuesday because the garbage and shells could go out for pick up on Wednesday. We invited our friends Jeanne and Frank to join us not realizing it would be insane to pay $50 for ONE small lobster. )
It was at this point that I realized this birthday was going to go down in history as a "fail". But I was damned if I wasn't going to do something to celebrate. The only thing I could think of that would not involve me spending a day cooking was to order a pizza. I love pizza ! I have been thinking about pizza for a couple of weeks but we have had lousy luck with ordering a decent pie down here. The last pizza we got was a "thin crust" because that is what The Man likes. It was like eating cheese and sauce spread over a sheet of paper. It was disgusting !!!! Added to this The Man doesn't like a lot of cheese or a lot of toppings. About as wild as he gets is to order pepperoni instead of sausage. (He actually like "hamburger meat" on his pizza but I put my foot down on that bland addition.) My birthday was the perfect occasion to get a pizza that I love . . . a pizza with EVERYTHING on it . . . including . . . ANCHOVIES !!!!!!!! Yup, I am one of those rare creatures who happens to love anchovies on my pizza. So that is exactly what we had for a party meal with Jeanne and Frank. Those two friends shared my pizza with me, anchovies and all while The Man ate a small sausage and mushroom pie.
But it even gets better . . . Jeanne told me she would bring the birthday cake. She was set on an ice cream cake from Baskin Robins but since there are no longer any Basking Robins ice cream stores around she went to Publix and bought a Carvel ice cream cake. And then left it at home . . . We realized this fact when she and I went to pick up our pizzas, (yes, we had to go get the pizza ourselves), so we bought some cheese cake and cannoli from the pizza place. Once we got home Jeanne and I sat down to eat pizza and drink the entire LARGE bottle of Sangria that she had brought. It was delicious !
Yesterday on my actual birth day The Man and I packed up the house for our trip north for the summer. We had leftovers for dinner and I spent the day pretty much forgetting that it was my birthday. If it wasn't for the phone calls, texts, e mails and facebook greetings I wouldn't have thought yesterday was any different from any other day.
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