Monday, April 28, 2008

80th birthday bash


Saturday morning we were treated to breakfast at Hillarys Boat Harbour. The occasion was the 80th birthday of Joan’s aunt Pat. After breakfast everyone joined her and Uncle Boy at one of the daughter’s house for speeches and pressies. Boy is so called because he was the first and only boy after 4 daughters.

Pat, and Boy are very young for their chronological age; both active and very ‘with it’. They have eight kids and what seems like dozens of grand and great grandchildren all of whom show genuine affection to their grandparents.

The family has a tradition of theatre at such occasions and there is usually some poetry and often an item by the grandchildren. Very impressive family stuff that is born, I think, from a large family. One son awarded her the OBE (Over Bloody Eighty).

Joan and her sister Dorothy were invited because they were flower girls at Boy and Pat’s wedding.

A nice touch was a bookmark featuring Pat made by a daughter for each guest.

Yesterday I visited bro-in-law Mike in hospital. It is today that he is to have the controller inserted under the skin in his chest and the wiring connected. It will still be another month before the system is activated. Hope it works. He told me that nurses are continually asking him if he knows where he is. At one stage early after his operation he couldn’t remember and replied with a ‘who wants to know?’

On Saturday he was told that he had ‘done a little poo’ and needed to be cleaned up. It turned out to be bits of dark chocolate scattered in and around the bed by his dyskinesia.

No comments: