Every birthday we have, has a different form. Things can happen even on birthdays. Last year when I turned 84 I had an early morning radiotherapy hit [number 44 of 45 scheduled for treatment for prostate cancer] and later my wife Carole and I rejoiced that this daily nine-week treatment was almost over.

Later in the day it was a rush trip to Emergency as Carole was having difficulties in breathing. This time her lung was only 1/3 filled with fluid and she was allowed to come home without treatment. [A few weeks before it had been 3/4 full of fluid and she had been admitted for several days.]

So last year it was a quiet evening at home to finish the day. Little did I know that just 5 days later I would again drive Carole to Emergency for the very last time I would drive my dearly beloved anywhere.

How wonderful it was today, 14 October 2020 on my birthday, to be taken out to lunch by friends to join other friends in a beautiful home-prepared meal and together reflect on God’s goodness to all of us over the past year. They were all praying people whom I knew had been supporting me in prayer throughout the year since Carole went home to the Lord on 31st October last year.

How wonderful it is to have friends who genuinely care, especially on one’s birthday when one is remembering with joy the life one enjoyed with one’s life partner for almost 54 years and also reflecting with a deep sense of sadness, her absence from us. But praise God, her presence now in a place of sheer bliss and joy in the presence of Jesus and so many of her loved ones.

[So a reflection for today, “In relationships, every moment counts! Every moment in relationships is priceless.” ]

My late wife, Carole Holbeck [1943 to 2019] would say about birthdays as one who memorised the birthdays of almost every family member and close friend over the years, “One’s birthday marks the individuality of every person ever born. On their birthday we honour their uniqeness.”

Blog 369. Posted on http://www.jimholbeck.blog on Friday 16 October 2020 but posted on Facebook on 14 Oct 2020