Being 67 years old is amazing. I’m speaking with 7 days (1 week) of experience.

The prelude to being 67 years old started 2 days before my birthday when my childhood and schoolmate friend, Charles “Bijou” Rozario sent me birthday wishes with beautiful blessings. Charles himself, has a story to tell. Me telling his story will not do enough justice to it. He has to tell it himself.

This followed an awesome fellowship of a pre-birthday lunch. A phone call led to showing up 45 minutes later to pick me up. Patrick & Hazel Archibald – some of the dearest people to my wife – Jeannie, and I. Lunch was simple, yet delicious, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable. Hazel’s father joined us for lunch. The impromptu-ness made it all the more a nice time to remember.

With Charles being the first to send me birthday greetings, I have received countless birthday greetings either in person or through the many communication avenues, mainly social media. I have read all the wonderful messages from all you wonderful people – what a way for me to give thanks for the 67 years of living experience and to usher in my 68th year.

I don’t know where to begin with thanking all you wonderful people – social media can be a boon as well as a bane. A boon where everyone connects with me and sends greetings. A bane when it becomes quite tricky in trying to trace back all those who sent birthday greetings for me to thank each and everyone of them personally. Haha. The many groups’ and threads’ feeds seem to get entangled with each other and with other posts’ feeds that I may miss out on thanking some people.

Thank you, each and everyone, family and friends; for the wonderful birthday wishes and messages. These wishes and messages have given an extra oomph to the beginning of my 68th year of life.

On my birthday itself, Leslie Quak, my classmate from school and close friend, treated me for lunch at a restaurant called CapoDelCarne in USJ Heights – a quiet place, where we could talk at a leisurely volumed voice. The meal was good – we both had pasta, Leslie’s a different variant from mine. It was nice to be in the present.

Jeannie and I made it a point to go for mass in the evening at St. Thomas More Church. There, we were met by Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Perera, regulars of evening mass at this parish. They acquired a copy of my book, SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT. We also met my cousins, Dato’ Ronald Gomes and his wife, Datin Debbie Gomes, and; Christopher Nalliah and his wife, Evalina Nalliah.

The cousins and wives and us adjourned to Big Daddy’s for dinner. Big Daddy’s is a little restaurant & pub in Taipan, USJ. Serving mainly western cuisine; many of their patrons were there for the pub. It had a nice atmosphere.

The food was decently good. After dinner, we had what is known locally as “the cake cutting ceremony”. Candles were lit, all 67 of them, or at least it looked like there were 67 (when lit – had to qualify myself).

I cutted what looked like a fruit – inspired cake. Lots of fruit decorated the top of the cake. The cake was good. The cake should have been bigger to accommodate more candles.😁🤣

What a day July 10th was, and the days leading up to it. The highlight of the day was when I received a telephone call from my mum and dad with a help of their caregiver, to wish me for my birthday. Mum who is 88 years young and dad who is 93 years spritely, chatted with me for a while. This telephone call was a gift from my parents – a gift that a value cannot be placed. Grateful!

I had to make a statement for the next 66 years – I got tattooed with a tattoo (Stronger Than The Storm) which was partly designed by me. It means that I am the first one with this design. Soon was the tattooist. As usual, he did a great job.

OK. My report card for the first week of me being 67 years, going on 68 is done. In an article to come, I will discuss of what it feels like to be 67 years old. I am already quite qualified, and now, having just completed the first week of my 68th year. I have to admit, it is not like what I had envisioned, so you have hope, too.

I am not too sure whether it is age or whether it is because I am a writer, I tend to look at things differently. One thing is for sure.. call it stubboness…I refuse to give up my rights to think. A vast number of people today are giving away their rights without even as much of a flinch. It’s probably because…er…they don’t think.

One more thing…The next book title… coming.