Small Act of Gratitude

For Meghan who will be celebrating her birthday this Saturday, 22nd of August. The red Azalea came from my side wall garden I pinched from the mother plant to give to her.


Yeah, something to sweeten the tooth of all Dental Interns who work very hard in their respective wards. I intentionally brought the big cake to be shared by all, including their Supervisors and Specialists who were all very kind to me.


A card for Ramesh but is addressed to all concerned who dutifully and compassionately are looking after me. Thank You is not really enough.

Yesterday morning, a day after my birthday, I went to Westmead Dental Hospital for a very personal and special mission.I arrived there early and that enabled me to drop by the Post Office Shop to grab a nice card and slowly ambled my way to the ward of destination.

I placed the big box of birthday cake on a chair and carefully packed my birthday present for Meghan in a nice gift bag and carefully attached the red Azalea flower that I pinched from my side wall garden. Then I took pictures and waited for my hosts to come out from their clinic to meet me at Info Desk Lounge or Reception Area.

The moment my hosts arrived minus one, I was feeling composed and relaxed. It was only Meghan who came to see me as Ramesh was on an emergency trip to visit his wife to the hospital, who gave birth to their second son early in the morning. It was a bit of a surprised news as I thought the baby won't be due till the 27th of this month. On the other hand, I was very pleased to know that the birth of their second child came pretty close to mine.

In honesty, I actually did not celebrate my birthday in terms of a feast with flowing drinks, inconsistent ramblings, loud music and dancing. My day was 'quilted in quietude' spending a little time on the computer, then off to cooking dinner for my daughter and son-in-law. Did a bit of tidying up and preparing the table with a nice table cloth which did not put into use anyway as we all ended up eating on our respective chairs watching TV. That's how modern we are in its simplest form. No formality.

Many days before though, I planned to get out of town but my daughter arranged for an after Sabbath dinner date. Their invitation did not materialize unfortunately as she was not feeling well that day not that I mind. For some reason I welcome the cancelled date with thankfulness and I really didn't know why. Perhaps, I just wanted to stay home and be alone after the service.

Monday dinner time came, and they arrived with flowers for me, a box of chocolate mousse for dessert and a bottle of champagne. That was wonderful! I love champagne so that concluded my happy day.

Without ceremony, I served them a nice piping hot goulash using cuts of Scotch Fillet cooked in fresh red capsicum (no artificial colouring), potato, red sweet potato in lieu of carrots and green beans.


On the other hand, in Melbourne, America's number one Titanic Wholesale Costco was opened to business on my big day. I was wondering if that giant store will ever invade Sydney. Ebie suggested that I should go there (Melbourne) to shop (is it till I drop Ebie?) lol. If only it's not a joke to travel that far and bring home what? Heavy stuff? Oh no, I can go to sleep now. lol.

Cheers!