The Hobbit

Awwww. Hi! Yup, it’s the big one. That’s the little one. I was gonna write something down, but I thought I’d just come say it in person. Yep, uh… it’s my fiftieth birthday. Many of you know that I don’t enjoy celebrating my birthday. I’m always a bit embarrassed when people turn the lights out, wheel in a cake with candles, and start singing happy birthday. But y’know, I was uh, hunting for a document the other day and I stumbled across my birth certificate, which I don’t remember ever seeing before. It’s the original document, beautifully handwritten with uh, fountain pen, and uh… y’know, you see your name and the date and your place of your birth, which is Round Hills Maternity Hospital for me – I don’t even think it exists anymore. But what really struck me was seeing my mom and my dad’s names on the certificate, and I realised that your birthday isn’t really about you. It’s about saying thank you to those people who brought you into the world. I always thought that my mom would be here to celebrate my fiftieth birthday, but she isn’t. But my dad’s here, and my brother and his family are here, and you’re here. So, I’m gonna celebrate with you. Thank you for all of the support over the years, and all the kind words, and the creative gifts that you’ve made, and to the charity donations, and to the auction in particular, for LOROS. And uh, I’ll be giving my contribution to LOROS because they’re an amazing charity, and they really took care of my mom, uh, we really needed them. And so yeah, I’m looking forward to fifty. I’ve got a lot of new ventures and some new ideas. And I think the thing that really keeps you young is curiosity. And I’ve still got plenty of that. Um… but oh! Here we go! This is the bit where I go red in the face. But somebody sent me these, so thank you, whoever that was. Uh, a little blast from the past. But um, yeah. Here’s to the next… who knows. Fifty years. Maybe. Happy birthday, me. Thank you. Mmm. Right. Time to cut the cake. Oh, yes. Yum!