My 65th birthday - notes from 19 December 2008

19 December 2008

I was 65 years old yesterday. What did I do to celebrate the day? Went to work, helped with a C/Section, which brought forth a cute little kid to be named Sebastion, attended to him and his mom all day, picked up another mom and baby to care for. All day long, different ones of my friends would tell me “Happy Birthday” and ask about my retirement plans. Those first grade paper rings dramatizing how many shifts I have left to work, are getting fewer and fewer – only 4 left now after yesterday’s shift.

Darlene Nelson, my best buddy at work, the employee recognition chairman, coordinated with our boss Rebecca Allen about a retirement party for me. Darlene and I decided we would wait until the end of January for an evening meal at McGraff’s Fish House. I had some choices per IHC Retirement policy, about what money they would pay, according to the years worked. I chose to receive $100 in my pay check instead of $150 for a retirement party at work. Instead, those who wish can join Darlene and I for dinner on January 20th and each pay their own way. I will use that $100 to pay for a subscription to Ancestry.com to help with my “Finding John McGregor 2009” project.

The first birthday greetings were from Jana and Carrie. Later in the morning, I got a text message from my dentist Les Brooks “Dr. Smiles”. Soon after, a phone call from my sister Elizabeth. Later in the day, a phone call from my son Don, and in the afternoon, Sue and Amelia and Lily called to sing Happy Birthday from cold Cokeville, WY.

Ordinarily, I don’t make a big fuss about my birthday, but this one seems momentous “65”, and remembering my 60th, I decided to advertise this time. When I turned 60, I worked that day too. I imagined that my boss at the time, Ann Eves, would have some list that would remind her when people had birthdays. But nobody noticed. I remember going to the snack bar and buying a big piece of carrot cake, then when I got back to the floor, mentioning it was my birthday. No big celebratory cake from administration – and none yesterday either – yesterday probably because of the entire belt tightening going on in the economy.

Oh and what did I do when I got home from work? Cooked a steak, and later had a piece of left over birthday cake from last Sat. family party – an Orange Chiffon cake – Gram’s and my long time favorite, and vanilla ice cream. Watched CSI and one of my new favorite TV shows – Eleventh Hour. And did not set any alarm to get up today. Probably not very exciting to anyone else, but I liked it just fine.