Well I’m finally caught up. The weather has cleared enough to allow visitors and yesterday I had Birthday Number 4 . It came complete with cake but fortunately no candles because it would be a fire hazard at my age, and I certainly wouldn’t have enough puff to bow them out and continue to breathe.
Despite the initial disappointment at not being able to have my birthday on the actual day, I’ve found this round of smaller ongoing birthdays to be fun and it’s given me a great opportunity to see how some people perceive me. Julia was with me on my birthday and gave me things she knew I wanted which was great. My friend and proof reader Lis who lives close was able to get here in time and brought me a gist I’d never have thought of, but love, some shoe spikes for getting about in the snow and ice. How novel is that?
Next, for my second birthday was Yvonne with her new husband Ugo. Apart from a PC cd Rom I wanted, they showed great thought by bringing me a new keyboard for the computer with all the keys covered in a clear nail varnish to (hopefully) prevent me from chipping off the letters with my nails when I’m typing as I have done with the current one and the last million or so. I suppose one option would be to cut my nails but they grow so fast. It’s as well my fingers have an inbuilt memory of where things are as otherwise none of my letters would make sense or they’d all take about two hours to write while I found the appropriate key. I’m changing to the new one tomorrow.
Along came birthday number 3 this last Sunday in the form of my two nieces. They are pure entertainment and I could listen to their stories for hours. They bought me some lovely gifts including a sign to hang on my wall that reminds me families are forever ( That thwarts my plan to take them back for a partial refund then) and a lovely jumper which is part of the reason for this story which I hope will become clear in a minute or two.
Yesterday brought birthday number 4. My beloved sister in law Muriel and her husband John. As they came in the door a huge bag was thrust at me. It was like Christmas. Before I had chance to sit down she produced a birthday cake ( thank the Lord it didn’t carry my age) because she knew I’d bought cakes the day of my birthday when I was expecting them. Since I’m diabetic I risked just a small slice with a cup of coffee ( yes, I used sweeteners). Amongst the gifts they brought was a USB computer light which I won’t be able to use because my base unit is at floor level unless I can find a way to raise it up. There was a mousemat which is 3D with a picture of an eagle on it. If you lean forward too quickly it seems to attack. A fantastic belt buckle and some ties came next and then the main gift, a fantastic new dressing gown, which sort of brings me to the point of this story.
How people perceive me….. I have been the size I am for some time now. It’s not excessive by most standards but I have a stomach I’d love to get rid of but can’t. I’m a size XL. My brother and my nieces when buying me gifts of clothing tend to buy me size L , I think I’m flattered. Do they still see me as sylph like?( Oi you, less of the comments, I heard that). My S/I/L and B/I/L yesterday however bought me a size XXL. Should I feel devastated that they see me as that big? Mind you, they bought me a thermal vest too so perhaps I should imagine they see me as cold? It struck me that we do have certain perceptions of people we’re close to and I wondered how much is coloured by how we see them. Fathers are often Gods to kids so are they seen as huge beings ( Look , I warned you once, lay off. I’m not huge). Younger or little brothers, do we see them as much smaller? I know my brother is 7 years my junior yet is 3 inches taller. I imagined him to be a size L and yet it turns out he’s also XL. I’m wondering how many birthday and Christmas gifts don’t fit merely because we love people and see them as larger than life or younger-must be smaller than us.
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