There is reason to be. My two sisters arrived on Friday to drop in cards for both me and my son who is 16 in three days time. They had a 84 year old friend with them. She was so sprightly, with eyes that twinkled with intelligence. She also loved a gin and a cigarette and seemed none the worse for wear as a result of it. I guess as Woody Allen is reputed to have said, you can live to be 100 if you abstain from everything that would make it worth your while to live to be 100.
Often in conversation with friends of a similar age the point is made that despite the limitations that aging brings, there is nothing wrong about growing old and everything wrong with not growing old. So on birthdays, there is always a thought for those who never made it this far including those we grew up with in the Lower Ormeau who never experienced life beyond their teens. Lives truncated by a loyalist bullet, their joy, their fun, their seasons in the sun few. Also those who endured the rigours and privations of the blanket protest, never to see their 4 x 4 x 4.
I spent three birthdays on the blanket but no longer remember any of them. The detail of tedium is not memorable because there is no detail to remember. Just a journey on an endless flat plain. I think Laurence McKeown wrote about his dislike of straight lines. No imagination needed to work out why. Still, when old friends from those wings weigh in with their best wishes on Facebook it is always gratifying.
Each time a special occasion arrives my wife always makes it that bit extra special. Today was no different. She always finds something that gives it that edge. Her choice of gifts never fails to please me. I always feel unimaginative when it comes to birthday and Christmas presents. It seems so much easier to pick up vouchers. Not her, and it is a character trait that has also jumped to our children. They know how to hit the perfect note when it comes to presents and surpassed themselves today. No boring blanket type birthdays with them.
So, what a day I had, my season in the sun, immersed in the company that means most to me. Not yet put out to graze but grazing from a plate of food in the local pub, lubricating the pathway through the esophagus with beer and whiskey. Now, sprawled on a chair in front of the TV with a large brandy, the Netherlands just knocked out, Belgium or Portugal fighting it out to make the cut, the game already graced by the sweetest of strikes from the Belgians.
There are worse things I can think of than being 64.
So, what a day I had, my season in the sun, immersed in the company that means most to me. Not yet put out to graze but grazing from a plate of food in the local pub, lubricating the pathway through the esophagus with beer and whiskey. Now, sprawled on a chair in front of the TV with a large brandy, the Netherlands just knocked out, Belgium or Portugal fighting it out to make the cut, the game already graced by the sweetest of strikes from the Belgians.
There are worse things I can think of than being 64.
⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.
Happy Birthday, Anthony.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Mackers. Here's to the next 64!
ReplyDeleteMonths. ๐
DeleteThere are worse things I can think of than being 64.
ReplyDeleteLike being 65... Happy birthday Anthony.....
than you lads for the nice comments .. and the wit Frankie!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Anthony, have a good one.
ReplyDeleteThe older you get the more you look like Ken Mc Guinness.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to the Sinn Fein provided pension , courtesy of Northern Bank ๐ฆ .
Bon anniversaire ; รa plane pour moi - Tears - Translation Lyrics Paroles English French - ... https://youtu.be/gawxsQ9BaGQ via @YouTube
ReplyDeleteLa breithe shona duit
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday. Glad you had a decent celebration. I love these wee philosophical musings. At times happy. at other times sad but always life affirming.
ReplyDeleteyou are even giving me something to ponder!!!
DeleteThanks Simon
thanks to all once again.
ReplyDeleteLรก beirthe shona duit a chara , belatedly just back from Scotland ,you still have a bit to go to hit the three score and ten, so in my eyes yer still a pup ,have a cracking one a chara ,
ReplyDelete