Birthday
It was my 63rd birthday yesterday. If there is one word I would use to describe our (my daughter and I have the same birthday and we always celebrate together) special day, I think it would be 'contented'. Blissfully contented, peacefully contented. The kind of happiness which one associates not with laughter but with a smile. Not expecting too much, but feeling rewarded enough.
It wasn't like the previous years when we celebrated with food parties. The stress, the sweat, the cholesterol -- I could do away with. Yesterday, we just ate the lunch special at Krystal's, a filipino place. It was a buffet and one of our best lunches there if menu is to be the criterion. There was pancit, lechon kawali, lumpia shanghai, vegetable guinisa, pork sinigang, caldereta, chicken adobo, fried bangus, menudo, fried vegetable lumpia and cake for dessert. Soda was free, too. If it wouldn't be considered 'abuso' we would have put a candle on a slice of the ube or mocha cake (their dessert) each and blown them while everybody sang 'happy birthday'. Of course we didn't, we would just wait to do that with our special strawberry/blueberry-topped cheesecake at home.
Instead of going straight home, we opted for outdoor activity since we had seven kids with us, all my grandchildren, the little ones bursting with joy and excitement at being together. So we went to Socrates Park, a small but artsy greenery at the end of Broadway St., at the edge of an industrial area by the East River, thus with lovely views of Roosevelt Island and beyond,... Manhattan. The little ones did a lot of running and the older ones, a lot of trying to catch up with them. There were beautiful hydrangeas near the entrance and we took a lot of pictures. Upon exiting, up comes a Mr. Softee and everybody except me, lined up for icecream. I would have loved the chocolate-dipped ice-cream but my diabetes of course prevented me to line up for one. But Lyla didn't finish hers, so I ended up having one, saliva and all. Too bad, there was no more crunchy chocolate cover left.
A couple of hours or so after getting home, when Kara and Kim arrived, Kristin and I blew a candle each from our small cakes. (We keep our cakes small now .. again to avoid too much sugar. Oh, I just remember now, I forgot to make a wish .. maybe, as I said at the start .. I was feeling 'contented'.) Kristin and her small boys had to leave soon after this, to celebrate with my son-in-law who would just be coming from work. I just learned they would be using their gift card at Red Lobster's. Those of us left had the special gourmet pizzas which Toppet ordered and picked up from Forest Hills. You know, the kind with the toppings like feta cheese and sundried tomatoes, sliced meat with anchovies, etc., etc. I couldn't even finish my second slice, the cheese was so rich and the black olives so salty in mine.
My niece and her daughter came, too, and I was happy she enjoyed the food and the movie we watched together after eating. Mamma Mia has been my youngest granddaughter's, 6-yr old Lyla's favorite these recent days. She has a crush on Pierce Brosnan ... ssssh. My niece commented Meryl Streep always reminded her of me. My classmate Edwina said so, too. Another classmate said it was Martha Stewart who reminded him of me. Oh, well. I can't complain.
When they left, Kara played the DVD of her birthday of four years ago at Eagle Lake at the Poconos. The kids were so young and cute then. Jaden had an arm brace there, a reminder of his little accident jumping from their sofa. And Arielle, my late sister's granddaughter, was cryin g while trying to sing ABC. Even my sister's husband, who died a couple of years after her, was there, too. He was in the background in one picture, seemingly separate from the rest, watching the others. He was in grey shirt while the others in the foreground were in white. I thought what I already learned to believe over the years ... on special occasions like this birthday, they want to be remembered, too.
So, a box of pizza was still left, the pan of noodles with Alfredo sauce, a lot of the lechon-oven that my husband Ben baked, paniguro of course, just in case the four large boxes of pizza wasn't enough. I was feeling peaceful inside, though with a touch of sadness at the end. Because of the ABBA songs, because of the remembrance of those who passed away. These ABBA songs, they lift you up and bring you to those days gone by. But after those moments when you briefly feel you are there again, you come back to the present.
But nostalgia or not, I feel blessed with a loving and joyful family. My two children even took the day off to be with me on my birthday.
It wasn't like the previous years when we celebrated with food parties. The stress, the sweat, the cholesterol -- I could do away with. Yesterday, we just ate the lunch special at Krystal's, a filipino place. It was a buffet and one of our best lunches there if menu is to be the criterion. There was pancit, lechon kawali, lumpia shanghai, vegetable guinisa, pork sinigang, caldereta, chicken adobo, fried bangus, menudo, fried vegetable lumpia and cake for dessert. Soda was free, too. If it wouldn't be considered 'abuso' we would have put a candle on a slice of the ube or mocha cake (their dessert) each and blown them while everybody sang 'happy birthday'. Of course we didn't, we would just wait to do that with our special strawberry/blueberry-topped cheesecake at home.
Instead of going straight home, we opted for outdoor activity since we had seven kids with us, all my grandchildren, the little ones bursting with joy and excitement at being together. So we went to Socrates Park, a small but artsy greenery at the end of Broadway St., at the edge of an industrial area by the East River, thus with lovely views of Roosevelt Island and beyond,... Manhattan. The little ones did a lot of running and the older ones, a lot of trying to catch up with them. There were beautiful hydrangeas near the entrance and we took a lot of pictures. Upon exiting, up comes a Mr. Softee and everybody except me, lined up for icecream. I would have loved the chocolate-dipped ice-cream but my diabetes of course prevented me to line up for one. But Lyla didn't finish hers, so I ended up having one, saliva and all. Too bad, there was no more crunchy chocolate cover left.
A couple of hours or so after getting home, when Kara and Kim arrived, Kristin and I blew a candle each from our small cakes. (We keep our cakes small now .. again to avoid too much sugar. Oh, I just remember now, I forgot to make a wish .. maybe, as I said at the start .. I was feeling 'contented'.) Kristin and her small boys had to leave soon after this, to celebrate with my son-in-law who would just be coming from work. I just learned they would be using their gift card at Red Lobster's. Those of us left had the special gourmet pizzas which Toppet ordered and picked up from Forest Hills. You know, the kind with the toppings like feta cheese and sundried tomatoes, sliced meat with anchovies, etc., etc. I couldn't even finish my second slice, the cheese was so rich and the black olives so salty in mine.
My niece and her daughter came, too, and I was happy she enjoyed the food and the movie we watched together after eating. Mamma Mia has been my youngest granddaughter's, 6-yr old Lyla's favorite these recent days. She has a crush on Pierce Brosnan ... ssssh. My niece commented Meryl Streep always reminded her of me. My classmate Edwina said so, too. Another classmate said it was Martha Stewart who reminded him of me. Oh, well. I can't complain.
When they left, Kara played the DVD of her birthday of four years ago at Eagle Lake at the Poconos. The kids were so young and cute then. Jaden had an arm brace there, a reminder of his little accident jumping from their sofa. And Arielle, my late sister's granddaughter, was cryin g while trying to sing ABC. Even my sister's husband, who died a couple of years after her, was there, too. He was in the background in one picture, seemingly separate from the rest, watching the others. He was in grey shirt while the others in the foreground were in white. I thought what I already learned to believe over the years ... on special occasions like this birthday, they want to be remembered, too.
So, a box of pizza was still left, the pan of noodles with Alfredo sauce, a lot of the lechon-oven that my husband Ben baked, paniguro of course, just in case the four large boxes of pizza wasn't enough. I was feeling peaceful inside, though with a touch of sadness at the end. Because of the ABBA songs, because of the remembrance of those who passed away. These ABBA songs, they lift you up and bring you to those days gone by. But after those moments when you briefly feel you are there again, you come back to the present.
But nostalgia or not, I feel blessed with a loving and joyful family. My two children even took the day off to be with me on my birthday.
posted by E. Deveras | 11:21 AM
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