Yesterday the Thurs. Writers stunned me with a bang-up birthday party! (I'll be 70 on Sunday.) I couldn't have been more surprised at the sheer lavishness of it -- a big cake with plenty of icing roses (a particular favorite,) a dozen long-stemmed, red roses from Emma, who owns and runs ELP Books and whose first imprimatur "Portia's Incredible Journey" is selling ike hot cakes in only the first two weeks of issuance! There were cool birthday cards plus Bob and Joyce both wrote odes to me! Joyce's card is an original painting entitled "Our Ocean" and it's above.
Since I am known most often as "The Rules Nazi" you can only imagine my surprise. That's what should have been on the cake!
Talk about a really appropriate card: "It is better to be 70 years young than 40 years old." Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Bob's poem notes that it is "to be read with proper bathos and a certain amount of sincerity."
Ode to Nina, on the occasion of her 70th birthday
They say, these days, that 70 is the new 50
Notwithstanding she says that it is
NOT so nifty to age, even if gracefully.
She recalls the day, when 50
She could slip around swiftly and
Now she is slowed up and thrifty
and wishes she could revert to 30.
But Happy Birthday
You've achieved a milestone
Your friends still love you, and
Throw you a bone
We like you old -- to have and to hold!
And, please remember --
Some of your friends are even older
And you're a long way from starting to molder!
(Ed. note: Probably won't be set to music any time soon.)
Joyce wrote this and you will notice the immediate reference to the Rules Nazi:
Our Nina is a critic; she tells us what is wrong.
She sees that every word is right, that no sentence is too long.
Our Nina writes a blog about the places best to eat,
Fun places we can play, what happens on the street.
Our Nina is a friend, to both the young and old,
We know that her good deeds are always left untold.
So Happy Birthday; may 70 be the start
Of many more years of happiness of which we'll be a part.
No comments:
Post a Comment