HAPPY BIRTHDAY

AS JAPAN quaked and flooded, we at the Manor, blind to the fact, celebrated the birthdays of residents born in the month of March. The weather was warm enough for us to gather on the patio for pre-dinner liquid refreshments. Spirits run high at these affairs when residents have the opportunity to gussy up a bit in an echo of social life in younger days.

The dinner chimes signaled a call to the walkers; people queued up to go into the dining room. Anticipation ran high. We eat well here all the time, but there's something special about the monthly birthday dinner.

You see now why we look forward to these celebrations. The kitchen staff did themselves proud in the absence of the chef who is recuperating from surgery. He taught them well.


It takes a while to serve all of us so this is a time to practice all of one's conversational skills.

It had been a festive evening, but happiness, to be happiness, must come to an end. 

I wonder how many residents toddled off to bed without turning on their television sets to hear the breaking news? As for Mr. Bob and me, we watched, transfixed and horrified, as we witnessed a tsunami in action in live coverage. What a leap in technology to folks who huddled around a radio in their youth, in order to get the headlines. Last evening our birthday wishes, prayers and concerns all entwined to create an evening to remember. We commiserate.