A Special Day: 2nd Nov, 2017 – Chapter 2
Dear Ann,
I was so glad I got up early on my birthday to unwrap all the gifts & read the beautiful cards. I am very old fashioned & love my cards!
Actually though, my birthday started three days before when I received a fat letter in the post. Real true lovely friendly newsy letters in the post are almost a thing of the past. When I saw who it was from I was more than elated & couldn’t wait to get inside to read it. I will share a little of it with you.
The first thing I read in nice big black print was:
Thursday, 18th Oct ,2017
Hello Miss. Dawn. Surprise…it’s me, Daryll!!
(Daryll always calls me Miss or Missy Dawn). He started off by saying:
“I am sitting at work in the shop on a slow day catching up on boring things like paperwork & making a mental note of things to do when I get home tonight. One of them was to phone U, which has been on my mind for ages to call & have a catch up on all your news. Then, as I was thinking about you, it occurred to me, it’s almost your birthday & that I should remember to send you a ‘Happy Birthday Card’ soon, but wait..why not send you a little letter instead! I thought if I started writing to you today I might just get it completed, posted & delivered into your letterbox by November 2nd. And I will be posting it too because I don’t think I have your email address anymore. So if it is..or close to November 2nd
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU DEAR DAWN.
Then Daryll continued:
Sunday, 22nd Oct. As I write to you today, I remember sitting in your little office behind the dining room at Christine Close & typing out letters to you & Max during your European trips & sending them off to some advanced destination on your itinerary & hoping they would eventually find you some place along your travels. How old fashioned does that seem now’?
That was just the opening lines bringing back some nostalgia & there was a lot more to come. I remember writing to you such a long time ago telling you about Daryll & the important role he played in my life as Philip’s partner after Philip came & told us he was gay.
That loving relationship has been there for over a quarter of a century & we do have a very special bond. His loving letter went on for four newsy pages, some parts very nostalgic & in other parts I learnt more about Daryll’s family.
I truly can’t express in words how much his letter meant to me. So you can imagine what a lovely start I had to my 88th birthday!
After my early morning start on the day itself, I went off to my hairdresser for my weekly hairdo, leaving home at 9.30 a.m. When I walked into the salon there was a customer in the chair & Felicity, my hair dresser, was doing her hair.
As I walked in the door I heard a duet wishing me a happy birthday loud & clear. I knew in an instant it was my friend Pat in the chair who would have known I would walk in the door at my appointed time, but it was very nice to be greeted like that. We all laughed & enjoyed the moment.
From there I had an appointment with my GP at the new medical centre, which is the recent amalgamation of three medical centres & a bit like Pitt St., Sydney which we use as a ‘saying.’
My GP, Dr. Syd Bourke, is more than a general practitioner, he treats me like a friend. I think he has a lot of respect for me because I didn’t succumb to cancer & am now out doing markets with my granddaughter, feeling great. There are a few other things too that I know he respects me for & I am fortunate to have him look after me so well.
So, when I went in he asked how I was & I told him that I was really good. Then I told him I would let him into a secret which was that when I woke up at DAWN that morning I realised I had been on this planet for 88 years. He grinned & shook my hand.
We then got over the little bit of a bother for which I was there to see him & then I told him I had recruited my eldest granddaughter, Charley into the marketing business with me.
I explained that she had learnt to make the Christmas Puddings & also the Relish & was taking samples of both to restaurants & stores in affluent areas & returning to collect the orders. I also said she was as ‘keen as mustard’ – another old saying we have.
You would not believe the reaction I had. He left doing what he was doing on his computer & gave me his whole attention. He was stoked to hear this news. I have to say he was ecstatic as it is the only word in the English language that I know to describe his reaction.
He then spent minutes of his busy time to say “Dawn you know what you have done? You have created what is like a little corner shop with your home made products & you & Charley are taking them out to the whole community. Charley has the world at her feet, she can do wonders, she will build up a great clientele as time goes on & will be another generation of the Pudding Lady. ‘Congratulations’, he said, ‘I am just so thrilled about this’.
Well I didn’t think that was too bad a response from my general practitioner. I walked out of that surgery feeling like a million dollars. Could hardly wait to tell David & Charley. You know the more I thought about it the more I think he was right in visualising the future of Christmas Puds & Curried Zucchini Relish!
I started to see it through his eyes & I have to remain well & healthy to assist Charley as much as I can at markets etc. in the next few years so that when I leave planet earth she will know everything to know that I can teach her. Â She also has approaches of her own which attracts the attention of customers at our stall.
Just to give you an example of this: I quite often mention to people that the Christmas Pudding they are tasting is the same as the one sent to HM Queen Elizabeth by request on two occasions. Most people are very impressed & Charley pipes up off her own bat & says “And Gran is probably the only person in Australia who gets communication from the Queen as she has already had two letters from Buckingham Palace.” Life is good.
Dear heart I haven’t really got far with the story of my 88th birthday yet, but you are the one I want to share such a happy birthday with so Chapter 3 will be on its way soon.
I love you so much. Dawn X O X O