Say Good-Bye To Birthdays

Are they overrated?

Come August I shall be having yet another birthday, in fact it will be my 72nd, and I have to say I'm not very excited about it. It may well be fun to be 72 and, if it is, all I can say is that I must have lost my sense of humour.

Talking of humour, my favourite comedian has always been Bob Hope. When Bob was 82 he is reported to have said, 'Thank you all for coming to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of my 30th birthday'. Bob went on to say, 'We won't light the candles. Pan Am will think it's a runway'.

I am told by people more knowledgeable than I am that our Queen has two birthdays each year, one a public one, the other a private one. I didn't know this. I thought you were only allowed one a year. As I think our Queen leads by example why shouldn't I have more than one? Come to think of it I'll have one every month; in five years time, when someone ask me how old I am, I can tell them I'm 127. That should shut them up.

No, I'm sorry, but for me birthdays are overrated. It would be different if every time I had a birthday I had some sort of a rave up to go with it. But all I get is socks, ties, pants and vests, and at the last count 1 had more of these than Oxfam.

I think I can manage without birthdays to tell me I am getting old. I've got aches and pains, which do that for me, and they seem to be doing a pretty good job so far. I'm well aware that one day I shall have my last birthday and I can just hear my Solicitor reading out to all who are present my last Will and Testament. Informing them that I have left behind a £1 or so in the Halifax, and a couple of bob in the Alliance and Leicester, but to then go on to say I've left behind so many pairs of socks; half of which have got holes in them, and the other half have yet to be washed.

No, believe that we all should leave some secrets behind, it's just unfortunate that mine are no more exciting than old socks.

Les Lawrence