General Discussion & Chat: Celebrating Birthdays, 1 by Dinu

Dinu wrote:
Surely birthdays are milestones that we cross. We pass them happily. Friends and family wish us for our well-being. It is a good occasion to forget other things and feel light, but get heavy in numbers - numbers of age! It is a normal process, is it not? It is all about feeling young. This is what takes us along smoothly. Cake-cutting has come of age, but not in our home as there is no 'birthday atmosphere'. It just passes along peacefully and my DW is reminded of the occasion when my out-station friends call me early in the morning - LOL. Usually, some home-made sweet dish is prepared, and the temple visited. This time, it was different - we were moving in the train early in the morning that day, 29th dawn. We had got up early and caught a train to attend my DD's college seat selection process 3 hours away to the capital city. Suddenly she remembered and shook my hand! I was surprised when some bell rang in her mind when my DD told the date - 29th Jan is also hers. So 29 flickered before her!!

After my DD chose the Engineering College seat in the Civil branch, we had to move over to a wedding-eve function of an old classmate's daughter. After some shopping we went there and it was a great occasion. Because, 7 of us kindergarten mates would be meeting there! I had seen all 6 but 3-4 of them were seeing each other after 35 years! It was great fun! They tried to put names to faces from memory. My DD and DW watched the fun from close range! It was a great evening. But the word in the group had spread about my birthday because a couple of them did not know. For some years now, we were just wishing each other over phone on our birthdays, but today we had met! One of them gifted me a shirt just before we left as a surprise and it had been labeled "to dearest Dinu". I had taken my Fuji with me. Not the Panasonic. After the dinner hosted by the bride's family, we bade goodbye and left. It was a great day, a day worth remembering. The birthday, the meet and my DD's choice of college.

First, here is a picture of the gift shop we visited: