boithday, Bethday

First - just talked to a very nice man called Bruce from Bell engineering - and we have an appointment for next Thursday! Progress. Amazing. Stay tuned.

Then, birthday wishes are flooding in. Friend Suzette, who's in L.A. with her husband and fellow producer Pierre Sarrazin (Michael's brother) just sent this :
Thinking of you, ma chère Beth, on the cusp of seniorhood. Which reminds me of a story.

Years ago Michael Sarrazin heard a house alarm coming from the house next door. At the time he lived in a lovely California bungalow on a hilltop in Beverly Hills. He always kept an eye on this house because the owners, an elderly couple in their mid-nineties, were frail.  So he went to investigate and helped the lady of the house turn off the alarm which had been accidentally triggered. She knocked at his door with a cake the next day to thank him. She saw that he looked morose and said, What's the problem? And he said, I just turned sixty-five. And she replied, Oh Michael, your whole life's ahead of you!

So Beth, your whole life is ahead of you.  Have a great party.  Wishing we could be among your peeps.  

Me too, Suzette. 

And from Carol my tenant and friend, who's at home in Ecuador: 

Wishing you all the best as you enter upon the seriousness of senior citizenship. We are the generation that changed it all! LOVE LOVE LOVE! LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED!

It is a pleasure to be on the Magical Mystery Tour with you. Have a wonderful day! Have a lovely party. Enjoy your 65th year! Honestly, it just keeps getting better and better! 

And this from poor Lynn, suffering as usual in the south of France. Lynn, whom I've known since I was 17, and her husband Denis, worked for many years at Jean Vanier's L'Arche :

My little anecdote for your entering into seniorhood comes from Pierrot Crépieux. Pierrot was the first handicapped person Jean Vanier welcomed to L’Arche in 1963. Last year he was awarded  the Légion d’honneur from Président Francois Hollande- the first time ever someone with a mental disability has received the coveted Légion d’Honneur. One of his most quoted statements to the press is the following :« Tant qu’on n’a pas vu qu’on a une belle vie, on a peur de devenir vieux, on râle tout le temps et c’est cassepied pour les autres. »

 When we don’t realise how good life is,  we’re afraid of growing old. We complain all the time, and we’re just a nuisance to others. (my translation).

To you who celebrates life daily and never ( well… hardly ever) complains- you are a true witness to how it’s getting better all time. Getting so much better all the time.

Would give my two front teeth to be there tomorrow. But twin three olds with lots of life to celebrate are keeping me here in France. But will be drinking and making merry in celebration of you tomorrow. 

Thanks for quoting my beloved Paul, Lynn. Dear readers, it's important not just to have friends, but to have cheerful, loving, supportive friends like these. There's a package here sent from Gabriola Island by Patsy, who helped me celebrate my 20th birthday, and now my 65th. Lucky, lucky me.