Birthday

I have reached the golden age of 67 today, nothing special, but heading closer towards my next 0 birthday. Here in New Zealand, we yearn to reach 65 and thus be eligible for the pension, only to find the years fly by afterwards. I can hardly believe it is already two years since that event.

My birthday was always a cold one, growing up on a farm in the King Country. In those days, we had thick frosts most mornings, and on my birthday, the sun would disappear early. Some years, June 22 was the shortest day, at other years, that fell on June 21st but either way, there wasn’t a lot of day light. I remember my brother and I huddling around the kerosene heater after school as we waited for my father to light the big, open wood fire after he finished his farmwork. Neither of these were particularly warm. The fire should have been, but there wasn’t insulation in those days and being open, much of the heat would have dispersed into the surrounds and out through the cracks.

I had a pleasant surprise upon waking and checking my phone this morning. There was a message from Inland Revenue telling me I had a direct credit into my bank account. I went onto my phone banking to find they had deposited my refund – already. I am very impressed with that. After the difficulty I had lodging my return, I thought the refund process would be just as difficult.

I also saw a birthday deposit from one of my brothers, while the other had put some money in my account a week ago. I feel very spoilt this morning.

Stephen had already given me his present, a beautiful ceramic eagle and a fluorite pendant but his card, that I got this morning, was beautiful. He even managed to correctly state that we had been together seven years and not just two as he often tells his friends. Again, where have those years gone?

I have never been one for celebrating too much on my birthday, probably because the weather at that time of year is so unpredictable. Today is the perfect example of this, with heavy rain earlier and the main road out, flooded. When I was married, my husband never even knew it was my birthday and the day would come and go like any other. Sometimes I would tell him, at others I wouldn’t bother. I always made a big deal of the kids’ birthdays though. With five of them, they didn’t get a lot of extras at other times of the year so their birthdays and Christmases were special.

I guess a birthday is a good time to reflect what has occurred through the previous year and goals one hopes to achieve during the next. I usually try and do this at New Year. I guess I am lucky having a mid-year birthday. Poor Stephen’s falls on January 4th. His bonus is the weather is usually good at that time of year, so easier to plan something, but being so close to Christmas, many of his friends have traditionally been on holiday and over the years, presents have often been shared between the two events. As a child, I would get a summer present at Christmas and a winter one on my birthday. The perfect combination really.

To me, family and my partner are the most important things in my life, particularly so on one’s birthday. I have already had a phone call from my daughter-in-law and granddaughter and a message from my daughter in Australia, who is sick in bed with a virus. Another son is also in Australia, while another is on holiday and currently in Greece. The other one is in the King Country helping his brother-in-law shear his sheep. It may be later before I hear from these ones.

But regardless of whether they ring early or late, I know they love me. What more could someone wish for?