Thursday, November 10, 2011

בס''ד

Birthday Bash………
Last night my children made a birthday party for me. Now this was no ordinary birthday party……for me it was very special. You see, now I was officially a senior citizen….so says the Canadian Government and I can collect my old age pension. 



In Israel, you apply to Bituach Leumi for pensions and dealing with Bituach Leumi, well that’s another story for another time……



Yes, last night [Wednesday] and today 13th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan is my birthday. The secular date was Nov. 7th.



I can hardly believe that I am 65 years old.



So what does it mean to be a senior citizen? Am I supposed to feel different than let’s say I felt last week?



According to Wikipedia the definition of a senior is: Senior Citizen is a common and polite designation for an elderly person and it implies or means that the person is retired.  So why can’t they just say the person is retired. Why do we need a title?



By the way, I am neither elderly nor retired. I am also not a “spring chicken.”  A couple of months ago, when my daughter gave birth, I babysat for her 6 children during the day. Now let me tell you that the kids were great, but at the end of the day I was exhausted.



The baby had jaundice and so she was in the hospital for a couple of extra days.



You need to be young physically not just young at heart to look after the needs of young children. 



I decided that since I am in a new faze of my life, I need to set some new goals.



Now back to the birthday bash. Although my children made the party, it was in my house. We were 16 people. Nine of our 13 grandchildren came. The others were either in Yeshiva, the Ulpana or our oldest who is in the army.



I told Avraham that I wanted the house decorated with balloons and I had so much fun stringing ribbon across the house, blowing up and hanging the balloons. 



My daughters shared the cooking for supper. Meat lasagna, stir fried veggies and we had a variety of salads. Devorah made a brownie birthday cake. Just delicious….I had to taste a small piece, even though I shouldn’t have.



I had a little surprised for my children and grandchildren. I told them that since they were at a birthday party, they needed to get loot bags.



I had a great time buying little gadgets to fill the bags. It has been a very long time since I bought fillers for loot bags. Even the big kids [my children] got a bag filled with goodies and a lottery ticket. Hope they win!



I received really nice gifts. Avraham and my son Eli-Chaim gave me a book by Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau called Out of the Depths. His experiences as a child of the Holocaust.



From Naomi and Devorah and their families I got the most beautiful, wine colour blanket with sleeves called a Snuggy…..It is so big and soft. Devorah said that I could wear it while I type my blogs.



Three of my grandchildren, Neta 4, Chen 7 and Nadav 5 gave me very nice drawings.

My grandson Itamar had fun taking pictures. He snapped and snapped away capturing the entire evening.



All in all it was a great evening that I won’t forget. I have been very blessed all my life. I had great parents a”h and a wonderful childhood.



Growing up, Avraham and I have been married 44 years, we have 3 fabulous children, 2 super sons-in-laws, 13 precious grandchildren and for the past 17 years we have had the privilege of living in Eretz Yisrael!



Life is truly good!
Miriam












 
  
Naomi, Devorah
Eli-Chaim and Yair












Avraham and me













Giving out loot bags










 













 

Me and my snuggy
Eli-Chaim and me

















My grandson Itamar
who took the pictures

9 comments:

  1. Mazel Tov and best wishes for reaching the best time in your life. And, what a wonderful party to spend with your beautiful children and grandchildren. I will be joining you at the end of December for my big birthday.

    All the best,
    Phyllis

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  4. Mazal Tov! You may not be a spring chicken, but you CERTAINLY DO NOT look ANYWHERE near 65!

    Esther

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  5. Mazel-tov!
    Your Blog is a Great way of allowing Us to Share in the Celebration.
    A Fun time was had by All
    Us included.

    Stan and Gail

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  6. Miriam what a delightful blog and photos.
    Glad you had a wonderful birthday!!! We are very close in age, I will be 65 in May...
    Many best wishes for your birthday, ad 120
    Fayge

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  7. Mazal tov! Your post reminded me of what I had been planning on writing/blogging about but in exhaustion, had forgotten.

    ps please post the title in the title box of your post, thanks

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  8. Miriam,
    Happy Birthday!
    This summer I hosted an Israeli family whose dad and first son are US born.When allocating bedding, I offered snuggies -- the three age 9-16 plus parents immediately knew the term and readily accepted and curled up in them.
    Enjoy.
    Kris Ayalla

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  9. Your blog and photos are fine testimony to the love you deserve from your wonderful family.
    Ellen

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