By Henrylito D. Tacio
Unlike in the past, sending birthday greetings these days is as easy as eating pizza pie! You can greet the person celebrating his birthday through text messages, Facebook, twitter, and e-mails/e-cards.
Those are the fastest ways of telling the person that you remember him on the day he was born.
Five days after New Year’s Day, I celebrated my birthday. A day prior to my birthday, I already got messages on my Facebook wall. All in all, more than a hundred greeted me on my birthday.
Usually, I celebrate my birthday in Davao City. Since 2013, I have invited some of my closest friends. But such an event was stopped when the pandemic hit the country. But now that it is over, I decided to organize the celebration again.
On the night of my birthday, several of my friends came to celebrate my natal day. Among those who shared their time with me were the following: Tom Anthony, a former military man and novelist, and his wife Mailyn, who were on vacation as they are from California; Dashiel Indelible (city tourism officer of Mati City) and his wife, Beverly; Armando Mortejo, education consultant at GAR Global by ARM Skills Management and Consultancy Services; and Jay Ternio, a friend from Magsaysay who’s a major at the Philippine Army.
Also present were Tek Ocampo, a former GMA host and now Davao City councilor; Wilson Catingub, Jr., country manager at ODILO; Darrell Blatchley, the curator and owner of D’Bone Collector Museum; Rudolph Ian Alama, a film director and columnist at Sun Star Davao; Alexander Mendiola, managing professional mechanical engineer at MendCor Designer-Consultant-Builders; James Delfinado, who’s currently taking review for medical technology; Tantan Mag-Usara, branch head at Manulife; and Gerry Tacio, Jr., my nephew who works in a call center in Davao City.
I want to thank the following persons for making my birthday a success: Atty. Israelito Torreon, a successful lawyer practitioner and dean of the college of law at Jose Maria College, and Rogelio Canales, the owner of Mixed Temptation Chinese Restaurant. Both were present during the party. Jojo Adlawan, known for his Miss Saigon stint in London, failed to attend but he did contribute something to the party.
The party was held at Mixed Temptation Chinese Restaurant in Lanang. Right after eating, we had fun singing as the place has karaoke.
However, before the night was over, I was able to write on my Facebook these words: “Today, I enter a new phase of my life. Before the day would be over, I would like to thank my family (parents, siblings, and relatives) who are with me through the years, in times of troubles and happiness; my friends who understand me as I am and stood by me whether I am bad or good; and my colleagues who were there to guide me and pointed me if I go wrong and praised me when I am correct.”
I also penned this short prayer: “Lord, as I enter another year of my life, please bear with me. I am not a perfect human being and I am sure I will commit errors but forgive me for doing so. Your loving kindness and blessings are the things that keep me strong. Your love keeps me stronger. Thank you for all the blessings I received last year and thanks in advance for the good things – and even those you won’t answer because I know you always see what is good for me. Thank you, Lord. As always.”
So, how old are you now, they asked. Their question had the words of British playwright George Bernard Shaw running to my mind: “Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.”
But wait, I don’t have any kids. And yes, I am not young anymore. The permanent thing in this world is change. We grow and then grow some more and then the final stage of life. In the beginning, poets talk about how many summers when asking for their age. But later in life, the tone changes: “How many more winters to go?”
Jean Paul Richter considers birthdays as “feathers in the broad wing of time.” And they are good for you, suggests Larry Lorenzoni. “Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest,” he said. – ###
With Atty.Israelito Torreo
Early birds
Birthday party
Attendees
