rancherwriterpoet

Events Unfolding As We Speak

I am fascinated by the hub blah of receiving a surprise birthday party. How can you possibly anticipate a birthday party if you know nothing about it? The surprise last only for the moment, the anticipation lasts much longer, thus more enjoyable. Now for those who plan the party? They receive the most enjoyment. They anticipate the moment of surprise. The joy is in the anticipation.

Funny thing about birthdays, they come around every year. I recall when I was a child they came about so infrequently. A year was a very long time to wait in between birthdays. And eventually, when it did arrive, the day went by so fast. Soon it was forgotten until it came closer to time for the next one. However, at my age today, impending birthdays are simply on a track that equals the speed of light. I’m not complaining. Just saying…

There was a time when I could remember the birthdays of all my children and grandchildren. Now I have to stop and think of the birthdays of my grandchildren’s spouses. In our family, there are nieces and nephews to remember. And their kids and their kid’s spouses. Even a great-grandson has been added to the mix. Then comes along a step-daughter and her spouse and lest I forget, the step-grandkids. They aren’t old enough to have spouses. yet! Thank goodness. And I’m supposed to remember all of these?

If my spouse’s birthday wasn’t on the same day as mine, (Now that was a stroke of luck)  I would probably forget that one too. My wedding anniversary is on the same day as my wife. I do still remember that. so far. That’s another story. However, it is getting harder to remember my own birthday, let alone, those of everyone listed above.

According to Oscar Wilde, “The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything: the young know everything.”  I’ve been to all those places, just not in that order. I might paraphrase that this way, “the old forget everything, the middle-aged remembers everything, the young suspects everything.”  I think Sgt. Schultz, from Hogan’s Heroes, said it best, “I see nothing, I know nothing”. That’s me.

I like the way the Vietnamese remember their birthdays. Tet is the beginning of the Vietnamese New Year and is everyone’s birthday, no matter when  he or she was born. In fact, most do not even know the exact day that they were born. I’m getting to be that way.

Anyway, I wrote this because my stepdaughter’s spouse has his birthday on August 22. He will be the ripe old age of forty-three. I think that falls in Oscar Wilde’s category of “suspecting everything”, but in the words of Sgt Schultz, “suspects nothing.”                            I’m going to buy his dinner tonight and he doesn’t know it. It’s a surprise birthday party. I am enjoying it with much anticipation, he doesn’t get to enjoy it until tonight.

Happy Birthday, Wade.

Have a great day.