March 11 was Charlie’s birthday. Me, I always try to take my birthday off from work, but Charlie doesn’t.
“Ida,” he says, “after a certain age, it’s just another day. I don’t want to think about it.”
My feeling is a birthday is cause for celebration, especially after a certain age. I’m on the back nine, as my golfer friend Betty says. Meaning, I’ve lived more of my life than I have left. So I say make the most of it. Heck, why confine yourself to just one day? Celebrate the whole month!
Anyhoo, Charlie doesn’t make a big deal of his birthday. Still, I like to make it special. We get up earlier than usual, and I take the ol’ duffer out to breakfast down to the Busy Bee.
This year, Charlie had what they call the Barbarian. Picture this: Pulled Pork, Smoked Cheddar, 2 Over Easy Eggs, Bacon Jam, Berry Compote, between 2 Pieces of French Toast served with home fries and maple syrup. He ate it all, if you can believe it. He followed it up with a Tums chaser.
“Do you have heart burn,” I asked.
“Nope, just heading it off at the pass.”
That night I made Charlie one of his favorite dinners: corn chowder, meatloaf, mashed potatoes with plenty of butter, maple carrots, and for dessert, a bread pudding. Easy, peasy!
Charlie and me never go hog wild with presents. It just seems kinda silly because, let’s face it, if we need something, we just buy it. Well, I do anyways. (Charlie’s not much of a shopper.)
So, I got him some new snowmobiling gloves. His were shot to hell, the stuffing coming out. Listen, when there’s more duct tape than glove, it’s time to chuck ‘em.
I also got him a couple four-packs of new underwear. I know, romantic, huh? I think so, because let me tell you, there’s nothing romantic about prehistoric briefs.
We ended the day by sitting in our Barcalounger loveseat and holding hand while we watched the tube. Doesn’t get much better than that. You know, the older we get, the more I appreciate every single day we have together.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Birthday Boy
Upcoming Shows
March 28: Once We Were Four, New Hampshire Theatre Project, 4:00pm, Portsmouth, NH*
April 26: Down to the A&P, The Dance Hall, 2:00pm, Kittery, ME
*performed as Susan