I had my 50th birthday last week. I had originally wanted to have a big party and celebration but because of COVID, I had to abandon those plans.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my birthday, but I have to say, it really was lovely.  Gary organised a beautiful birthday cake and got me some really lovely presents (including some fabulous hedgehog slippers!); I received 5 bouquets of flowers; a bottle of my favourite perfume; some lovely little trinkets from one of my oldest friends (we have known each other since we were 12!); and a surprise bottle of bubby and chocs from some lovely friends. I was given cake decorating sets and received lots of lovely cards, but the one thing that was really lovely, was the number of messages I received by text, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook.

If I get a reminder from Facebook I always try to do a post but sometimes people slip through the net if you don’t think that you have time to do it and you then forget.

Over a couple of days, I received hundreds of birthday messages from all over the world and some from people that I hadn’t expected, and in a time when it is impossible to meet with family and friends or celebrate with them, all of those messages meant so much more than they normally would.

So, if you get a reminder from Facebook that it is someone’s birthday or you know that it’s a special day for them, just take a few moments to post them a message – you might just make their day!

PS the picture is of my lovely cake together with our 'family musical candle' that is all the more funny as the battery is almost dead and the music changes speed!

‍