Happy Birthday!

Birthday is always a +1 machine to a person. To us, it is just a reminder that we should add one year to our age.

My birthdays often fall on weekdays, so on those days of school the only people who knew my birthday were my family members and close relatives. I do not look upon celebrations from my parents, but in the past, usually they gave me “Lai See”s.

To our daughter and son, it was different. When they were still young as children, we bought them beautiful birthday cakes and birthday cards, with lighted candles at their tops. Photos were taken at the celebration moments with relatives crowded round them. The lights of these candles were blown off with our big mouthfuls. Hands were clapped and the usual birthday song sung. Of course, they would get “Lai See”s from us as well.

As they grow up, celebrations of their birthdays become simple as eating outside and of course they are given “Lai See”s. Birthday cakes become uncommon.

If nowadays we put candles on a birthday cake for our birthdays, there ought to be more than fifty candles on it, like the burning of a small forest on a white snowy ground.

Happy birthday to Yuen Siu!