Well, if you told me I'd make 60 years of age in any shape or form when I was 20, I would have said you were dreamin'! Somehow, despite the soft criminal teenage years, the frenetic immortal risks of the early 20s and beyond, I've survived relatively unscathed from life's ravages and live to fight another day!
Cass was always a shoo-in to reach 60 relatively comfortably as a goody-two-shoes from way back and with a definite risk aversion. She is however, just as astounded as I am that somehow we've reached this venerable age and significant milestone. In fact, we've often joked about the fact that when we were both teenagers the Year 2000 seemed so far away as to be almost in the realms of science fiction and if we were still alive then we'd be "just about out" at the ripe old age of 38....ah, the arrogance of youth!
We spent the late days of February and most of March with enjoyable activities like celebrating Sue's birthday with a great lunch at Noahs, going for meandering motor bike rides, catching up with old school mates at 60th birthday parties and watching world class surfing live across the road at Merewether Beach for Surfest. These pleasures were interspersed between our supervision of "O'Reilly men" as Manuel would say on Faulty Towers!
We'd been blissfully ignoring the impending dates of our own birthdays and despite sensible and early warnings from Chris and Val and generous offers to throw us a party we rejected all efforts and refused all offers. We were not worried about turning 60: far from it in fact. We've been revelling in our newly minted freedom from work, our repatriation home and our relatively fine health...so much so that anything that might upset our little, calm bubble in the world seemed anathema to us. We'd flirted with the idea of a celebration, but couldn't reconciles all our different worlds, school, Grammar, Uni friends as well as family. It was possible of course, but felt overwhelming to us, as increasingly introverted, slightly socially anxious individuals (well me at least!)
Cass suggested a clever compromise solution of a small family lunch to celebrate a combined birthday. It was a master stroke. Thankfully, nearly everyone was able to attend, despite some ill health and other commitments restricting a few possible attendees, quite miraculously as we gave scandalously short notice! The superb authentic cuisine of Bella Italia, along with their semi-private back room, provided the perfect locale for a relaxed lunch of fine food, excellent wine and drinks and convivial company.
Cass gave a searing speech from the heart which outlined a potted history of our time together, along with thankyous to her and my family. She managed to massage history skilfully to light me under a halo of goodness and wonder, which was so lovely and quite the feat. I tried to return the favour but stumbled around and didn't do justice to all her amazing accomplishments. Nonetheless, our heartfelt sentiments seemed to be appreciated by the audience! Valerie and Denise both rose to say a few words, unscripted and unprepared, and we were both basking in the warm glow of praise from our parents as well!
This lunch came after another, prior, lunch at Scratchley's on the wharf hosted by the Williamson family including Kristin which was similarly delightful as we gazed on the coruscating harbour, giant ships and busy ferries while eating our fresh produce. We enjoyed a homemade cake and presents later at Chris and Val's unit.
Fast forward from both lunches to my very quiet birthday lunch at Surf House where Cass and I strolled across the road at our leisure and whiled away the afternoon in the dappled sun of the 3rd storey bar and restaurant, sipping drinks and having a pleasant, simple meal. We revelled in the peace and solitude and marvelled, yet again, at how lucky we are to live in such a special part of the world, free from calamity and conflict and strife.
Our renos are ongoing and we've had quite a bit of progress. Our ensuite has been destroyed, stripped back, jackhammered up, cleaned, rebuilt in a slightly different configuration and waterproofed and fitted out electrically. Now, we're waiting on the tiler. These guys, as previously alluded to, are the kings of the tradies at the moment, so we're waiting with bated breath for any word of a possible starting date! We're sleeping on the sofa bed out in the back room for the foreseeable future: it's not a totally unpleasant experience but our old backs aren't coping quite as well as we'd hoped. Still, the end result will be worth the minor inconveniences.
So, it's Easter. After 19 years in an Asian non-Christian environment at Easter time we're a little out of practice with the rituals and habits of our fellow Australians, but by the look of the rollicking good fun being had by people in and out of the pub up the road, not everyone was thinking about Jesus getting nailed to a cross! We're slowly getting reacclimatized to Aussie life but it might take a little longer yet!
As always, I did my push up challenge on my birthday. I did 70 for my 50th birthday, so my constant, every other day training for the past 10 years has paid off by enabling me to do an equal 70 for my 60th! (up top for a while and later here.)
Here's the 60 album as well as the ensuite album. Oh, and how could I forget one final indignity we inflicted upon ourselves? As eligible citizens, we've applied for both Senior's Cards and gold Opal Cards....we apologize to our younger selves!