And They said life begin at 17. Happy Birthday to Me.

 Yesterday I turned 71 and what a day it turned out to be. It started off with me not in the mood for any fuss or even think about celebrating my birthday bu decided to leave the house in the afternoon simply because it was too dull and dreary to be home alone.So I ended up at the only place that I felt was not going to cost me much and find a mind or two to communicate with. The Restaurant at the Fisherman's jetty, my regular port was my destination and there i sat with someone who I had not seen for a few years now since he moved out of the fishing community. after finding a lady and settled down. His elder brother I knew very well died about a a year ago after years of living the ife of a drug pusher and raising their youngest brother who was a handicap; theirs was never an uplifting story as the elder brother was constantly being taken off to prison and the youngest being taken care of by relatives when this happened. However I witnessed all these over the years not realizing that I was doing so and had become a apart of the scenario of their lives as they were mine. Suffering comes in many forms and some are just beyond our ability to do much about it except acceptance and so Nana and I, we talked of the old days and where and what had become of those that were.

After my cup of Nescafe I decided to visit one of the huts or 'pondok' where I usually hang out with the boys and left Nana by himself watching some Turkish drama series on TV. I found the regular guys at the hut and sat chatting with them while one of them was in the process of frying some rice noodles. I have known Rosli for over twelve years now since I started visiting the fisherman's jetty area and he had always loved to cook. He was also responsible for building the small hut we were in which is built over the water as most of the fisherman's hut are. As a matter of fact he had his hand in building most of these huts from way back when for as long s I have known him perhaps even before. Rosli, or better known as Lee Bakoi among those who knew him is well respected in the community and runs the coffee shop at the restaurant. Here is one of my long term friendship that's worth more than money can buy. Throughout my life I have a few whom I hold in high esteem especially in how they affect my life. There's David Carlson who recently suffered a stroke livng in, Ensinada, Baja California, we met and became friends in San Francisco, through whom I met and married Nancy, my late wife. There's jerry Sule from Green Bay. Wisconsin, when I met him he was 17 years old and he traveled with me on one of my trips to the South West of the US. I was squatting n his mom and dad's basement at one time while I was going to college at UWGB. Jerry is now in his early fifties and a grandfather.

I value people in my life especially those I feel who I could trust and get along with for a long period of time, These are people who can help you by becoming a mirror to yourself and this is crucial in my effort towards self discovery. Then there those that push your buttons and can make you spin like drunk by their ruthlessness in being bound and determined to bring you down and these too over time and with better understanding have become my mentors, my negative aspects of mirror images. I realize much earlier that I learn my lessons well from all the negative relationships I have had in my life. I also found that those closest to me as in siblings and relatives are the ones that I have to watch out for. A close friend once told me that  I had better watched out for my reputation in life and I failed to heed his advice closely and today in many circumstances my relationship failed on account of my neglect to discipline myself when having a relationship especially with the opposite sex. However, live and learn as they say and some had to learn the hard ways. 

How did my birthday ended? Well by the end of the day I was high as a kite and received an expensive watch as a gift right off a friend's wrist the moment i told him it was my birthday. I received a message from my estranged son the Captain who lost his job and on his way back home to the US to live with his Mom, wishing me a Happy Birthday; a pleasant surprise. The downside was that I learned that my daughter was going to quit her job as she had had enough of her boss, who happens to be my good friend. Hence so much for a day in my life looking at 71 years down the road, the things I gained and the relationships I lost and they say life begins at 70! Or was it 17?