I was dreading my birthday after losing Dad at the end of January. It was unbearable to think of a birthday with both of my parents not here as Mom followed Dad so quickly. I was quite happy to just let the day pass unnoticed. Family, friends and himself had other thoughts.
A treat at my local hairdressers. On your birthday they give you a choice of gifts so I chose the wash and blow dry – always cheers me up. I also had a recommendation voucher which I used for a manicure – what a treat!
One of my lovely friends then treated me to a celebration afternoon tea at a beautiful local hotel. It was a beautiful sunny and warm day so we sat outside, batted away wasps and enjoyed hundreds of calories.
Himself took me for my first night away from home in four years to Lichfield which is a small but beautiful city not too far from where I live. We used to go there for New Year’s Eve back in the day, go to our favourite Indian restaurant, have a few cocktails, stop over and head for home the next day. And that’s exactly what we did the night before my birthday and I was fine. Not a tear. It felt very strange to turn my phone off when I went to bed, no-one was going to be calling me and I’m finding that hard to deal with.
Huge brunch which meant I didn’t eat until very late Saturday night. I received lots of flowers, chocolates and my very best friend bought me a rather large and sturdy suitcase with the words “get travelling woman”. The sobbing started when I opened up my birthday cards, that was very tough indeed.
I bought this bottle of Champagne last Christmas and I was saving it for a “special occasion”. I’m no longer going to save things, if I have them I’m going to enjoy them and live for today. As the saying goes, tomorrow is never promised and it takes pure heartbreaking events for us to really understand this. As my Dad would say “life is for living”. I drank the whole bottle over the course of three days and I don’t regret it one little bit.
With love and sparkles xx
Dawn. The Sparkle Diaries. 