All going to life's master plan, when this goes to print, I will have celebrated yet another birthday. Not a 'significant' one as such - a few of that sort have been and gone - but nevertheless significant to me. After all, it's all about me isn't it? I can't help making a bit of a fuss on birthdays. I have been known to blurt out to total strangers that it's my birthday. Then I'm assured of plenty of happy wishes on the day. I think it might be a spill over from days gone by.
Although we didn't have a lot of spare money growing up, my mum always made sure our birthdays were special. I have very fond memories of a classic Kiwi-style birthday. We were allowed to have a friend stay the night - I chose the same one each year - my best friend. We were allowed to choose what we wanted for our dinner. Each year I ticked the shrimp cocktail box for starters. My mum used our flash parfait glasses to layer shrimps, shredded lettuce and condensed milk dressing. This was followed by roast pork, accompanied by 'whipped' potatoes - the mashed spuds were transferred to the electric beater where they were beaten to within an inch of their lives. A good dollop was piled high on our plates before being topped with potato chips. Of course there was plenty of veg - which we actually ate, gravy and homemade apple sauce - and the grand finale, pavlova for pud.
My 'pretend' Aunty Myra always came round for dinner and brought the pav. Every year she would announce, "It's no good, it looks like someone sat on it." Mum had the answer for that - on went the whipped cream, followed by symmetrically arranged pieces of fruit - that sorted out the collapsed look and ensured it tasted remarkable. I think we may have also been allowed a glass of fizzy. We opened our one present from our parents in the morning and the one from our friend at dinner. Life was simple. I will still have my best friend to stay the night - I'm married to him. And although my lovely Aunty Myra is long gone, if I was lucky, I will be remembering another special dinner and a helping of my favourite pud.
