May 1st 2009

Happy birthday to me.....Happy birthday to me.....

Well here we are...I find it so strange but so exciting....

Years ago,because I never had a birthday celebration,I decided to make my 40th a special day... but I worked as normal 14 hours,it came and went...no big deal... so I decided my 50th would be special with a celebration of reaching the milestone...It came and went,I worked the usual 14 hour day,it passed by again....so I decided,DEFINITELY my 60th would be a day to remember.

If you have been following this blog journey of mine,you will know that on my 60th,last year,the consultant told me I had 6 to 9 months left to live because of lung cancer.

So........having made my peace with God,and arranging my affairs,my friends needs etc and my funeral,I continued,with the help and support of my chosen few hand picked friends,and the medical team,I took on its fight for life.

I set myself little milestones in my mind,also being reminded almost daily by memories and things in the news or around me,that time was ticking and I needed to fight.

Little milestones such as,I wanted to kick Autumn leaves again.....to kick winter snow again.....to toast my turkey with a glass of malt ( a tradition of mine every Christmas) to give thanks for Christmas day.....to hear the bells ring in the New Year.....to visit one of the navy ships I helped prepare for retirement from the fleet.....to visit the garden of remembrance at Aberfan,where,as a young man,I was part of the volunteers that helped dig the school children from the disaster when the coal tip slid onto the school.....to see the clocks be put forwards to BST.....to worship extra at Easter time.....to see friends win their Tribunal cases as they had been treated so unfairly,to spend quality time again driving around,chatting and laughing,one to one,with my Scottish friend again ,to see my dear friends new house completed to see her happy face .....to get a birthday gift for my friends daughter as I am not sure if she really likes me or not,her birthday is the day before mine so if I did,I would only be a day away from MY special day.......to see a friend take a well earned holiday as she was scared to go last year in case I took a turn for the worse.....AND........to celebrate my birthday again.........

In between these major points,small things such as,will I see the new Skipton bus station complete and open,I also got a book of vouchers for a free daily paper for 6 weeks,would I use ALL the vouchers?,I have always wanted a really good telescope to view the heavens,and a guitar because I always wanted to see one on its stand in the corner as I missed all my youth of happy hippy,I wanted to visit the new Asda store when it opened at Keighley,and the new Super Tesco open in Skipton....and see the new beach area around the bridge at Giggleswick,where I feed the ducks....

Well...Autumn came early,so did winter snow,I had my Christmas dinner,I watched the television as the new year was welcomed in from HMS Belfast,a ship I put in mothballs for retirement,for its trip to Tower Bridge,I read ALL my daily papers not a voucher wasted,bought a high powered scope and realized how beautiful heaven is and which star will my soul inhabit,strummed my new acoustic guitar often,each time,returning it to its stands and smiling a smile of missed youth,I traveled the Skipton bus from the new excuse for a station lol,I watched a TV program where a secret millionaire visited Aberfan,whilst there,she visited the memorial gardens,I put all 13 clocks forwards an hour at BST,I worshiped extra for Easter in my church and gave extra thanks,I had wonderful weekend visits from dear friends,saw my friends new house very nearly completed,and had a lovely birthday meal out with friends after a lovely day out with friends in Leeds.......had a wonderful weekend with my Scottish friend,driving around Yorkshire Towns and the Lakes area,laughing and joking,one to one,it was brilliant,my friends daughter was delighted with her gift on her birthday and sent me a lovely text,and my other friend goes on her holiday tomorrow............and here I am,writing my birthday blog entry......

The journey continues.....thanks to you,my very special friends,god bless you all.

Paul......xx

............................Happy birthday to me.....Happy birthday to me.....Happy birthday dear meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee x


PS The new Asda superstore and the Tesco dont get finished till Autumn,so I have to keep fighting,and Giggleswick bridge is days from completion.