... of a farewell to the fifties

It has been three years down the retirement road for Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) and this day 20th April, 2011 Y S is celebrating his .........his.........his.....59th birthday... sob...sob.....sob the last year of the fifties, and the advent of his sixties, and then it is the downhill. When you were a child, how you wish your birthdays come quickly and more in between but not at this age. In the 'down the hill years" you tend to pick up speed and the years are so much shorter.

The " going down hill years" in spite of all the sayings, poems , ballads, songs and odes dedicated to its glory is in fact not that glorifying :-

It is when your friends begin to flatter on how young you look but there are sure signs that you are growing old.

It is when gray hair is a sign of age but they flatter you by saying that it is wisdom. (What wisdom ? The cost of hair dye and the frequency of your need for it is forever increasing ! )

It is the prime of life, no doubt, ar ... but then it just takes much longer to get primed in many things.

It is when you pay more attention to the food than the waitresses.

It is when you mind say " Go, go.... !" but your body says " Wait....wait....! "

It is when you keep forgetting where you put your glasses and hand phone.

In spite of all these oddities of bidding farewell to the fifties, Y S is nevertheless grateful to the Almighty for all those of years of His choicest divine spiritual and temporal blessings showered on Y S - the better half that he is blessed with , the daughters and also son-in-law whom he loves and treasures, the siblings he values, the friends whom he cherishes, the health he enjoys, the list is unending.

Btw the birthday cake is specially baked by a former pupil and now Y S' good friend, Mr Beh, who is a photographer by profession but he cooks and bakes like a chef ! It is a cheese cake and that is Y S' favourite. This one is "superlicious" because it has an added ingredient - love. You may not see any candles, well, do you have to remind me of my age ? why waste money on 59 candles ?

Life lives on. The BEST is yet to come !!!