I’m injured, so I decided to have a really chilled-out birthday with the people I love the most.
The only phone calls were from my brother in Devon, my other brother in Colorado, and a friend in Italy.
Caroline has a week off work and arrived on Friday and about 9.30 pm she dived into my office and emailed her pal Lucy in Brighton: My parents just gave me blackberry and apple crumble !
Lucy’s quick reply was : Can they adopt me?
She went to a wedding in St Albans on Saturday and came back and had Sunday and Monday with us, as she loves to makes a fuss about birthdays, which I never do. She gave me four vinyl albums that I’ve never owned.
So Tuesday was a lovely birthday and I’m now recovering from last Wednesday’s knee injury.
When I went to A&E on Thursday morning, they said, “You’re fine, get out of here.”
That was almost what they said.
Their actual words were: “You haven’t done damage damage.”
Meaning : no ligaments, just a muscle injury.
So I’ve got damage but I haven’t got “damage damage”
Friday was pain and swearing and limping and more swearing, Saturday I was furious that my knee had not started to improve, Sunday I was eating lunch standing up at a garden party in Totteridge. Watched the Arsenal-Liverpool game with the boys, then went out to the patio where five women were chatting happily round a circular table.
“After white wine and co-codomol, my knee’s stopped hurting,” I announced.
“A good combination, I find,” said a blonde. The others laughed.
Monday I limped round the corner to buy a newspaper for the first time in 5 days.
Tuesday was birthday cards, presents, cake and a red balloon, then lunch, then Caroline made me put on Van Morrison and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac.
Today she’s flying with pals Kierra and Abi to see their friends Mel and Mike in the Channel Islands.
I said, ” That’ll probably be the smallest plane you’ve ever been on.”
“Not as small as the one I jumped out of.”
She was referring to Lake Taupo, the gap year skydive.
“Whose idea was it?”
“Mel and Hadley.”
In Australia they met an American girl who had a car.
“Abi said, ‘No way !’ Then she caved and I didn’t wanna be the only one who didn’t jump. I’d do it again, they say the second time is better. As soon as my feet hit the ground I thought, ‘Again ! I wanna do it again!’ I didn’t sleep for days, it’s such an adrenalin rush.
“We got drunk with the pilot the night before, it was his birthday. We flew in the afternoon – he’d sobered up by then. We always thought : we’ve come all this way, we might never be here again, let’s do it! We walked the Sydney Harbour Bridge, swam with dolphins, hiked up a glacier, we did everything. That’s why I had to phone up Mum and say : can I have another 500 quid? I promise never to do that again!”
All that was six years ago but I remember it quite well. I had online access to their joint Nationwide account. Not to monitor my daughter’s spending, just to see where she was.
Caroline reads a lot and always asks how my book’s going.
Last thing she said to the old beatnik was, “Finish the Preface, send it to me.”
Yes, I’ve been talking about Arsenal, thinking about the recent news, and had some thoughts.
Nothing that won’t keep till later this week. I’m too mellow today.