Celebrating a special birthday with family. Photo / NZME
Celebrating a special birthday with family. Photo / NZME
You cant’t beat a good old family get-together, especially when it involves cuzzies and a birthday.
It’s not like going to a party and making small talk with people you know but don’t know.
Cousins share your history. They know your siblings, your parents, your grandparents, your aunties and uncles.
They know exactly what you mean when you say so-and-so is the most stubborn person in the world. They know because, most likely, they have someone in their immediate family who is exactly the same.
So, I was looking forward to attending a special birthday on Sunday afternoon.
The birthday boy, my uncle, was 85 years young. He’s a bit of a joker, likes a beer, frequents a local club and likes to have a wee bet on the horses now and then.
He had the most lovely surprise on Sunday. The surprise didn’t come wrapped in fancy paper, nor did it come in a pretty box.
This surprise arrived in a car all the way from Tauranga. The surprise brought a tear to my uncle’s eye. His 92-year-old sister, driven by her son, had made the trip, especially for his birthday.
That’s my kind of present. The older I get, the less I find I need.
I’d much rather spent time with family and friends than receive an expensive bottle of perfume — although a bottle of gin wouldn’t go amiss.
It was so lovely to see my aunty and cousin for the first time in three years.
Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today. Photo / Warren Buckland
You would never know she was 92. She’s not long been back from a long holiday in Australia with her some of her children.
She plays bowls two to three times a week and is as fit as a fiddle.
My uncle used to be a bus driver, as did his brother. We looked at photos of him and other bus drivers, and of him at school and in a rugby team. I wasn’t very good at picking him out.
The gathering also put into perspective just how quickly life passes us by. Once, I was one of the children at family gatherings with parents and grandparents, aunties and uncles.
While I’m lucky enough to still have three aunties (one lives in Australia) and an uncle, now I’m not only an auntie, but a great-auntie and a grandparent.
The years have flown, but I count my lucky stars to have been blessed with such a fantastic family on both my mother’s and father’s sides.
The last three years have been pretty tough with lockdowns and sickness keeping families apart.
