The older you get, the more your birthdays can absolutely suck. I don't like the fuss, if I'm honest. Trying to keep other people happy on my birthday by pretending I enjoy the obligation of celebrating my birthday is tiring. I don't like the waste of presents. I'm kinda a birthday grinch.
And this is my first birthday without my Dad ringing me up to sing happy birthday with Mum, as per the family tradition. Mind you, that was well Dad, not the Dad of the last few months who could hardly talk at more than a whisper. But that's not the Dad I'm mourning. Anyway, Mum put on a brave face and rang anyway, though she was too teary to sing. My sister's family gave me an awesome rendition, and my darling grandson Ned facetimed me with a 'happy berday gamma' and a big smile, so by 8 am, it kinda felt like people lvoed me. That's nice.
There's only one thing I really want to do on my birthday ever, and that's go for a surf. October can be hit and miss with the waves and sunshine, but today was offshore and lovely and I pushed through hip pain I probably shouldn't have and got some nice rides on my longboard. Jamie even came out on the other longboard, and he doesn't really surf, only SUP, so that was kinda fun, though wives shouldn't teach husbands to surf as they generally don't like being told what to do. Hah. I could, however, rest in a little smug satisfaction that I was at least doing this better than him. Go me.
Out there, in the water, I can be happy for a bit.
I don't know, I'm okay - just a bit flat. Bit short of money and work. My van's broken - Jamie's rebuilding the engine but that'll take a few weeks and a few grand we didn't really have to spend. Sure, there's plenty to be thankful for. But it's my birthday, so I sob a little if I want to. I don't have to be super happy just because it's my birthday, do I?
Later we'll go out for Indian - there's a good one in Torquay called Lentils. It'll be nice to eat out with family and feel a sense of togetherness, even though there's one of us missing. The last time Dad came out for a family dinner was at Lentils. We were going to get take aways because he was so sick he could barely walk. Much to our suprise, he insisted we eat out - he managed, and even had half an Indian beer. It was a lovely night and it'll be hard not to remember that when we order our malai kofta and palak paneer and paratha tonight.
But good memories are worth smiling about, right?
With Love,
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Yes, good memories are better smiles, l like it that you will go out with family to have a great meal in celebration of your birthday.
Happy birthday continue to have a good time 🥰🙏
Thankyou xxxx
You are welcome 🥰🙏
You are so beautiful. You really are. Haven't seen your face in a minute, so forgot.
Happy birthday, my dear <3 You don't gotta be happy at all, you just gotta be you. I always thought that was the sole prerequisite for a birthday, no? Though surfing and time spent with loved ones (and good food!) don't sound like a bad way to be spending it. It seems like you're making the most of your time on this earth, which I always thought must be what our dearly departed would want us to do in their absence. Love you to bits!
Haha I will try to accept your compliment gracefully, though I don't see myself as pretty by any stretch of the imagination 🤣😉
Love you to bits too xx
We share many opinions on later in life birthdays. They are definitely more for those celebrating them than the birthday boy/girl themselves. They tend to provide that morbid countdown that time is ticking away.
My layover due to weather in Port Hawkesbury, NS would be a perfect excuse to avoid my upcoming one later this month; but for the fact of my anxiousness to get home. Perhaps my having been away this long will make birthday celebrations a bit more special for me this year.
Anyway this is not about me just yet... it's about you. Just remember all the wonderful accomplishments you have made judging from your best wishes calls alone.
Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! 🎂🎁
✌️&💛
Ah, well, the best present is being alive so breath that salty air and enjoy your advanced age 😜 wherever the wind has put you! An October child too?
Yep, a Scorpio though.
Oh my! You look so pretty in that picture. Really really pretty. Happy happy birthday Rivers. It's beautiful that you go to do something you really love doing on your birthdays, today (surfing). Cheers to more good memories worth smiling about
Haha it must be the filter but thanks xxx
Congratulations on your special day! One day I realized that I can't stand fuss and monotony in celebrating my birthday! I asked myself: what do I want on this day? I want a new adventure! And I allowed myself that! Now my birthday is usually a trip to a new place where I've never been :)
An adventure is the best present! 💝
Happy birthday Rivers!! Glad to see you are treating yourself on your birthday
Hugs. It's always worth smiling if you're alive and you can. HBD 🎈🥳🎵
Oops! I thought the first post I read was the birthday one. Well, Happy birthday again! I hope the meal was good.
You be, however you need to be. However you need to feel.
It sounds like you have had a really nice day. I wish you a Happy Belated birthday xxx
Thanks! It was a nice day, yes. I'm not as happy as I should be but it's been a traumatic time.
I hope you had a special time with your family on your birthday, River. Firsts are always hard but they are made slightly easier when surrounded by people we love and who love us 🥰
That's so true. I just wanted to be with people that I could talk about him with and who missed him too.
💗💗💗
Happy belated birthday! It will be odd for some time without your dad around, Tina still finds it hard to say, “going to Mums” without adding on “and Dads”. It’s been strange with him not being around when we visit Tina’s family as we do often; since my mother in laws stroke last Christmas.
Oh man yes that's hard. I hate saying it as I still feel his presence there. How can it not be his place now, just because he's gone?
How long has Tinas Dad been gone? Is your MILA recovering okay? Please pass love to Tina.
He passed away last July and it’s been really hard on my MILA. Tina has coped very well with it, as she is very much an independent girl. MILA though was joined at the hip to FILA, very close and shes actually doing well; she is doing the stuff he wasn’t a fan of for example which is kind of funny because he was a bit of a sod at times!