50 things

 

4 birthday cakes, 1 basket of flowers, 39 friends, 2 hours of candle-light in a powercut, 4 days of celebrating. Turning the half century has been good and has reminded me how blessed I am to have so many people I love in my life - friends as well as family.

our latest graduate...

The l'il guy follows in the family tradition! It's the first non-university graduation ceremony I've been at here - though I think they're creeping in and I know they're very common in America.

It was the best entertainment for half an hour - I'm not sure when I last saw my father enjoy something so much and laughter is such good therapy. They trotted in behind the staff to their version of the drill instructor's song from Full Metal Jacket - "we are winners from the start"... and from there we had songs about numbers, colours, shapes, hygiene and a personal statement from each of them about something they'd learnt this year (table manners!).


So having been snowed out of the nativity play at Christmas, and security alerted out of sports day, nothing was keeping me away on Friday. I wouldn't have missed this for the world!

365:117 Happy birthday Ellie

Aunt Ellie doesn't speak much, but she's good on dates when you get her started. She remembers when all her siblings were born, her parents too, and all the wedding anniversaries. She knows when she was born - it's today's date she struggles with.

I gave her the envelope with a birthday card and as soon as she saw the card she looked horrified, then mad and told me in no uncertain terms "I'm not 80!".

Oh yes she is.

I'm told by the time some of the family had a wee party for her later, she'd come to terms with the idea! It's nice to know that even when most of your mind has wandered to another place, you've still the sense to be vain, but never pass up on the chance to be the centre of attention and to party.

(Note to family members reading this - Ellie's to the extreme left of the black and white snap - and yes, on the extreme right in what looks like a very fetching saggy one piece, is dad and beside him, granny. I think he looks about 3 so probably taken in 1939.)