A Very Happy Birthday

April 11 was my birthday.  I awoke that morning in Kruger Park on an overland excursion. We started the day with a game drive in the early morning and then got back to the ship late in the afternoon.  Because of this, I was expecting a strange birthday.

It would certainly be different from my usual pattern of celebrating the April birthdays of Sarah, Brian, and myself with a party. It would certainly be different because I didn’t figure out how to do those all-important birthday speeches. My birthday did turn out to be very different, and also to be surprisingly positive.

The celebration started when I checked my email and found that Sarah had been very busy putting together a Kudoboard of greetings from friends and family along with pictures. What a great way to be greeted. This made me smile.

Before I left the ship for the overland excursion, I had worked with the restaurant concierge, Hanah, to book a table for the night of April 11 with five other fellow passangers with whom I’ve become friendly.  Hanah did the inviting after I left the ship for the overland, and I wasn’t sure if it would come together, but it did.

We had a very pleasant dinner in the Toscana specialty restaurant.

The whole staff came to the table and sang as they delivered a birthday cake.

I was feeling pretty good after the dinner, then I headed down to my cabin.

When I opened the door, I was again surprised.  Sarah, Brian, Lauren, and Sumit had arranged for a bottle of champagne to greet me.

My room was also decorated to celebrate the birthday by my room steward, Marina. 

I never found a way to do the birthday speeches and will find some way to do them when I get back from the cruise.  All-in-all, though, a very special birthday. I was surprised to be so recognized and that left me smiling. Thank you to all who participated.