Birthdays Keep Happening, But That's Good When You Consider the Alternative...

I just had another birthday. How did a whole year pass so quickly? Wasn't I just 70? Nope. That was in 2019 when they were just beginning to worry about the COVID pandemic. The summer of 2019 was when our children and their families came to Hawaii to help me celebrate that 7 decade milestone. How could time have flown by so quickly?

However, I have felt time on my body. Little things are harder to do. Word retrieval from my foggy brain is getting harder and harder. Walking tires me faster. (Art says it's my imagination.) And I'm getting rather clumsy at times. There's skin sagging here and there. It's quite perplexing even though it's expected.

Despite all that, family and friends made my day special.

There were cards from wonderful teacher friends in Illinois who haven't forgotten me. We do text each other all the time. 

Birthday text messages binged on my phone throughout the day.

There was a long FaceTime call from our children and grandchildren in Illinois and Maryland. And yes...very sweet gifts.

And then Art and I did our birthday tradition of going to Starbucks for my free birthday drink. I also cashed in my "stars" for a free matcha frappuccino for Art. I got the mocha frappuccino. We then sat under some blossoming shower trees for a quiet and happy moment together.

I thought that was it for my birthday celebration, but then our doorbell rang.

It was my cousin stopping by with this birthday bouquet. I was absolutely floored. 

She and her family just wanted to thank us for trying to keep my bedridden aunt's spirit up during this trying time.

Art and I don't give each other actual gifts for our birthdays. We always feel like we have the material things we need. 

But we'll just do little things for each other.

I'd been wanting to put up hooks in our closet for a while, but there really was no need for one. 

Our Dyson vacuum cleaner had died and we were left with this very sturdy attachment carrier. I thought it would be quite handy in the closet... if I could hang it up (instead of throwing it away).

Art does not like to put holes in the walls. He really doesn't.  However, it was my birthday, so there it is!

But now... what to put in it?

We didn't get a cake, but we did go to a favorite Korean restaurant for a take-out dinner. The food is awesome there but the proprietor is sometimes affectionately called The Angry Korean Lady because she can be a bit brusque at times.

We went in to pick up our order and the owner/lady was super, super friendly, full of smiles and helpful. The serving size was so big that we had enough for 2 dinners. 

So yup. All in all...

It was a very happy day, a very, very happy day.