Happy birthday to me

It was my 40th birthday and I had three possible guests attending my party in addition to my teenage son. This may appear to be a rather small gathering, especially if you consider that I invited over 200 people. However, I live in Australia whereas most of my friends and acquaintances do not. The majority of my mates and family dwell in California, the other states of USA, or England. After all those invites, the three possible guests ended up as being only one actual guest - a musician friend who was staying in Sydney for a year.

Having received cash from my father and aunt, it was far more exciting to be given a couple of CDs by my friend as a gift. One of the CDs was Sean Hayes' Alabama Chicken album. I had not sampled the performer previously, though he fell into both the 'San Francisco musician' and the 'non top 40' categories that I prefer.

It may not sound like much of a memory - just to have been given a CD for a birthday. However, on the majority of years since my early thirties, I have had neither a party nor any gifts other than cash to report as recognition of my extra digit celebrations. I generally either have a special meal, or simply buy a bottle of wine and hang out with my friends via the computer. Therefore, when I hear the title track from my gift CD, it generally brings back memories of my quiet little party. I doubt I will be throwing another til I turn fifty!