The Other Side of Growing Older

"Party!" he says to me.

"Get doused with chocolate sauce and have nubile young sex slaves lick it off your body."

"Because since you've seen 34 wild, crazy, PG-rated birthday celebrations, have another that will outdo all else! Indulge!"

Au contraire, my good man. After 34 wild, crazy, PG-rated birthday celebrations, all one really wants is normalcy. All one seeks is simplicity, and all one yearns is security.

To shut the world out and spend the entire day with The One.

To walk into Pizza Hut in your pajamas and flip-flops and have the worst pizza on the menu.

To go home to Nina Simone tinkling on her piano, to read poetry to one another.

To lie on his chest and hear his heart beating in rhythmic trance.

Then to fall asleep and have him give you a belly rub.

Just one night of complete sloppy-ism, of being who you truly are sans noise, distractions, pretense. Just enjoying being YOU, and being loved for it.

And it's such an irony... I am thankful that I was late to work today because my phone didn't stop ringing from well-wishers. Last count of birthday greeting sms-es was 14. Facebook: 12 gifts, fun-wall posts, and messages. Not bad considering I'm such a terrible friend to begin with.

And yet...

And yet, I find myself pining for the presence of the one person who obviously didn't remember.

Why are we made this way? Why do we pine for what is naught? Why do we set ourselves out for heartache? Why do we not practise what we preach? Walk the talk?

I know this will pass. I'm saying so because I know so. At the end of the day, all I really wanted was to remind myself what a fubid zodd I am, and to have an entry that bore the date

27-11-2007


Sigh, Happy 35th, Addie!

(Picture courtesy of Getty Images)