Was That My Birthday That Just Passed?
Next up… 40!!
On my 39th birthday, I woke up to the tune of an unconventional alarm. At 730 in the morning, my wife and 2 daughters put in a valiant effort while singing me something which resembled your typical Happy Birthday song with the occasional word swapped out for its Spanish counterpart. A Happy Birthday remix is just one of the many perks that comes along with marrying a Canadian guy to a Spanish girl who then decide to procreate.
My age was portrayed creatively with 10 candles dispersed over 2 distinct desserts which huddled inside this fancy little box that my wife was carrying as she sang. On the left was a recycled candle in the shape of a 3 atop an oversized dollop of cream which I later found out had a cupcake dwelling beneath it. To its right was the second display, hosting 9 single happy face candles which were freely shedding wax all over the mini cheesecake they were stabbing below. The whole assortment obviously screamed “Breakfast of Champions!”
After the Spanglish version of Happy Birthday came to an end, I blew out my candles and focused my attention on the designer shopping bag which sat beside me on the bed. I recognized the obscure shoebox it contained from when the Amazon delivery guy heaved it over the fence at me just days before. “Hey, thanks, man..” 👋
A keen eye would likely discern that I was going to be getting shoes for my birthday. Nevertheless, I had all the reason to be sceptical about the notion before opening the box. Living in Barcelona where shoe stores tend to favor men with tiny little feet has the ability to damper the expectations of a guy whose shoe size competes with the likes of Shaquille O’Neal. Anyhow, my curiosity was peaking all the same..
To my surprise, I opened the box to find a slick new pair of the classic Arizona style Birkenstock sandals with 2 majestic brown leather straps. My wife nailed it again!! I’m guessing she’s trying to eliminate any possibility of my old blue pair of Birkenstocks coming back for yet another long season of the hot Spanish sunshine. She’s got a strong case really… They’re a size too small, stinky and quite simply beyond any reasonable state of salvation. Unfortunately, when slipping my oversized feet into the new sandals, we were all amazed to find out that there is footwear in existence that makes even my feet look considerably small. Note taken.. Birkenstock sandals fit big.
The festivities were over not 5 minutes after they had begun as the usual daily hustle and bustle understandably took precedence over my shoe size. However, I happened to score another sweet little surprise at night when my daughters went to town decorating the dining area with birthday paraphernalia.
They had been secretively handcrafting a massive multipart sign that said “HAppY BRiThdaY PaPA” for several days prior to the event. They somehow managed to fight about everything other than the misplaced “i” and “R” in “BRiThdaY” before they finally agreed that they should blindfold me and lead me downstairs to the party. When I entered the room, they immediately broke into song and dance which, I’m told, they had vigorously prepared for.
When the show was over, I was ordered to start steaming the artichokes and to get a couple of hot dogs grilling tout de suite because the entertainers had a big day and needed to be fed.
In the face of a pandemic, I have to say, that I’m pretty happy with the way my birthday turned out. All and all, it was a great day and I have tons to be thankful for, thanks to my 3 beautiful ladies.
I’m a software developer by day and a family guy by night. I joined medium to write tutorials on tech and stories about life.
