Day 29 - Sea Day - Special Birthday

-

Birthdays are strange days in that their importance changes with age. During the informative years they were extra special. Unlike Christmas and other major holidays, birthdays were unique and belonged strictly to the individual. Everyone had that one special day for a party with family and friends celebrated with gifts, cake and ice cream. Lots of great memories.

Years come and go and birthdays loose their importance. Many try to forget the day figuring Father Time and aging will pass them by. Let me tell you, it doesn't work.

Later in life birthday's start becoming important again. They become a time for reflecting on the past, looking forward to the future and ensuring every moment counts.

Late life birthdays, including this one, are often full of surprises. The utmost surprise is seeing another year. The next is family and friends finding a moment to celebrate the day while Joan and I travel the globe. The ultimate surprises came from those new in my life, those chance meetings that grew through conversation into friendships. Thank you my new friends for all the kind words and best wishes on this special day. Language is never a barrier when the messages come from the heart.

Welcome to the club my new friends Angie, Joey and Yasa for making this birthday aboard Serenade of the Seas extra special. My elite group of family and friends may be a small, but it's quality not quantity that counts.

Thank You All

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 64 - Los Angeles, California

-
Image
Eight o'clock we were cleared to leave the ship. Fifteen minutes later we were "just sittin' on the dock of the bay. Wastin' time". Unbelievable!  Past experiences indicated departure would take about ninety minutes. We had to leave the room on deck seven, catch an elevator to deck two, scan the sea pass card leaving the ship, navigate the terminal to customs, clear customs, turn in our passports to Royal Caribbean and locate a place to be picked up. Each step typically has waiting lines. Today no lines, we simply fast tracked everything. Friends Juan and Carlos were picking us up. No Royal Caribbean excursion for us today, Juan had something special planned. The Sunday morning air was cool but pleasant and LA traffic was non-existent. In no time we reached our destination north east of the city, Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. Founded in 1771, the complex is home to California's fourth historic mission. We spent hours enjoying the church, gardens and ...
Read more

Day 65 - Sea Day - Culture

-
Image
One of my personal goals for our Ultimate World Cruise is to experience, learn and hopefully understand some of the many cultures encountered around the world. With the Americas portion complete, now is a perfect time to reflect on lessons learned so far.  For those following closely you may have noticed a bit of confusion and slight shift in opinion. That should not be a surprise as opinions are generally based on experiences and experiences have been bountiful this trip. To better understand this shift let's examine the importance of culture and it's relationship with society. First, what is culture? Is it found exclusively in cultural centers boasting exhibits of arts, crafts and other physical products of society? Perhaps a more representative source are those including the performing arts like song, dance and theater? Is another potential means of experiencing culture found on tours featuring local foods, history and architecture? If the above is true, culture has ...
Read more

Day 58 - Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

-
Image
Along with the two remaining ports in Mexico, Puerto Quetzal is among our last excursions in Latin America. Having never visited Guatemala, we weren't sure what to expect, but figured it would be similar to our other ports in South America. Although most seemed to have similar backgrounds and social issues, all were exciting experiences with unique cultural differences. Today's excursion was long, so we were up early, well rested, full of energy and ready to go.  Both Joan and I are chronologically enhanced and not in the best of shape. For this reason we avoid strenuous excursions like Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls and opt for choices better matching our capabilities. This is not an easy decision, but given our situation, it is the best and definitely wise choice.  The day began with a ninety minute bus ride to Antigua Guatemala and transfer to a smaller bus. The second bus took us deeper into the city for a drop-off. About five hours later, a different bus would pick us, ...
Read more