Specially for Tina Miranda on MY Birthday

My birthday card

When you are as old as me you try to forget your birthdays.  After all, how many does one really need?

On 12 April I arose at 6:30 am and headed off for my Sunday morning golf game with buddy Darrell.

By the time I arrived home, I found that my wife had arranged a family barbecue for that evening and I had to contribute to the preparations.

Still suffering from that deep depression that golfers often get when they finally realise they are no Tiger Woods or Adam Scott, I had to energise myself and sweep our outdoors, covered area and otherwise prepare for our feast. On my birthday no less.

So much for letting your birthday slip by without anyone noticing. I don't need a celebration, I've had 68 anniversaries of my birthday already and every day I wake up happy that I'm still here and that everything still works. Well most of it anyway! That's celebration enough.

Then I received a message from Tina Miranda, the heart, soul and hub of the Miranda family. Tina wanted to know when she could expect to see my birthday post on this blog. Can you believe that?

Well, although nobody bothered to take any photos of our barbecue, or in fact any photos period, I thought I had better keep my good friend Tina happy. So here is a shot of one of two lovely, high tech shirts Christina bought me. (Note the Alice Springs Golf Club logo. Before you play golf, you've got to look like a golfer, right?)

Daughter Meredith and grandson Tory bought me a pair of Mr Marvel under pants (no, I'm not showing them here) and a box of Callaway golf balls (as if I lose that many).

Son Dale bought me a massive Toblerone chocolate and others bought bottles of wine,

My daughter in law, Yen bought a lovely chocolate cake from Wendys which was a good end to a lovely dinner with a variety of meats and salads and a few boiled potatoes.

I'd already shouted myself a carton of Asahi Japanese beer and managed to drink one bottle of that and perhaps two glasses of sangria for the evening. Hardly a wild night, but at my age, six bottles of beer and half a bottle of red wine is a big evening.

So, Tina, if you are reading this, because of you I had to write this almost meaningless post when I really had no intention of doing so.

Robin

PS: Thanks for thinking of me Tina ... love you and yours

Christina's 60th Birthday Party

On Saturday, 17th April 2010, my wife and best friend turned 60. It's just a number, but it is linked to a lot of other numbers like our meeting on 1 January 1972 at Hobart, Tasmania; our marriage on 17th February 1973, the birthdays of our children Dale and Meredith in 1975 and 1977 respectively, and finally, the 37 years we've spent together.

Cause and effect.

When I look back, the evening we met at a friend's party seems quite clear as does the chemistry. But since then, much has happened and somehow we've both reached the latter years of our lives.

Where did the time go? Why did it go so fast while we were focusing on the minutia of life?

As I searched for some photos of Christina for a PowerPoint display, I found numerous photos taken in the first years of our lives together. I was taken back by how very attractive my wife is and hoped that over the ensuing years I had taken time to tell her that ... as I'm sure I must have on numerous occasions.

Getting older isn't all that bad. A day or two after her birthday, I reminded Chris to complete the application forms for her Seniors Card and Seniors Concession Card, both of which are available from the Northern Territory Government on production of various documentary evidence. The Seniors Card is available to anyone over 60 and enables one to get discounts when purchasing from businesses or government agencies that subscribe to the scheme of giving discounts to senior citizens. The card we all really want is the Seniors Concession Card (not available to men until 65 which I feel stinks).

When Christina gets her concession card, part of the cost of our utilities, car registration and insurance, house rates and a few other things will be discounted. That's good, because it frees up money we can now spend on prescription medicines that we will inevitably need as our bodies continue to age. Life has a way of looking after us with its checks and balances.

The next major event in our lives will hopefully be when we sell our house at Alice Springs, buy a new four wheel drive and a caravan and head off to travel all over this lovely country.

That sounds like the Great Australian Dream.

Robin

Grandson Tory Jet Muller Turns 8!

If I hadn't experienced it, I would have said there was no way Tory could have turned eight.

Why, it seems like only yesterday that we rocked up at the Midwifery Unit at the Alice Springs Hospital to see what millions of years of genetic history had presented us; A healthy boy with unexpected blue eyes and an elongated head from his vacuum (Ventouse) delivery.

Interestingly, both his grandmothers are midwives and were working at the Alice Springs Hospital during the birth.

Although it seems like yesterday (as these things do), much water has passed under the bridge in the last eight years. (See him in the photo with his school mates and mum while cutting his birthday cake).

Tory has been fortunate enough during that time to visit the United Arab Emirates twice, to visit Thailand, Singapore and a number of Australian destinations. Much more travel than I had done by that age, although I did move to and live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya between the ages 7 and 10.

He plays soccer, cricket, baseball and more. In the near future I'm going to introduce him to squash and maybe one day he will volunteer to be my golf caddy.

Tory tends to be a bit wild and wooly at times, but that's healthy for an eight year old. We get on well and I'm looking forward to many years of companionship including having a beer with him in a hotel somewhere on or shortly after 24 November 2019 when he reaches legal age.

As one of my colleagues from Al Ain Women's College wrote after his email signature, "If I had known grandchildren were so much fun, I would have had them first."

Hmmm, but I would have missed many wonderful years seeing my daughter and son reach adulthood.

Stay well.

Robin