I have never in my entire life had a better birthday

I have never in my entire life had a better birthday. I was feted beyond belief. Feted is a strange word – off to look it up (to be fêted) verb [with object] honor or entertain (someone) lavishly. This was the sentence that was provided: : She was an instant celebrity, feted by the media. Well I was!!! Sent my WhatsApp friends a photo from the prayer room which was turned into a celebration room by the fabulous management of the Kuching Hilton. Definitely my home away from home. Oops come to think of it, I do not have home. Anyway – this is what I wrote: “The remnants from my birthday. Just learned that the Instagram reel that I posted got 1.7 K views. Yeah 👍But Huh and Hmmm.” You shall see the photo at the conclusion of the blog. Do admit that I transposed the numbers.
She: Congrats.
Me: I know and I am younger. Hahaha 38, not 83.
She: Younger than me.
Me: All because I did not have children.
She: Good move. Figure ruiners!!
Me: So blessed as I would have abused them given my history of abuse. Freud’s repetition compulsion.

Back to Instagram for a minute and then I shall describe the day in some detail. So yeah 1.77k views. I got 62 Likes, and 25 comments. Definitely I was feted by media. So if you have not viewed it nor Liked it – go do it immediately, if not sooner. Hahaha

But do lets return to the day. I awoke for Fajr prayer. Dawn dawned – decided I would go for a walk along the Sarawak River. I amounted to all fellow strollers that it was my 83 birthday – I must have received tens, if not hundreds of Happy Birthday wishes. I took photos along the walk – I walked almost to the bridge with great ease actually as there is a bricked passage way. I compared the Sarawak River with the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton during my last Kuching visit. I will tell you this – there is no such a paved pathway along the length of the North Saskatchewan. I am SO grateful to be (soon) a Malaysian and not a Canadian. The weather is better too. Hahaha Took photos, turned them into a post – so far have gotten 88 views with 8 Likes. I am turning into a numbers woman. Hahaha

Then to my Hilton breakfast which consisted of Sarawak Laksa and other delicious delights. Again the food much more tasty then it would be in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where the only specialties are poutine and maple syrup. Hahaha

At some moment, in time went, to visit concierge Siti as I needed help changing my Malaysian Air return ticket as I will be spending an extra day here before returning to the KL Subha and Conference. For some reason Siti accompanied me to my room – opened the door and what did I find??? Look at the reel and you shall see. Hahaha Siti became my videographer. I was SO surprised and shocked as the reel will reveal. But it did not end there. A cake was delivered with birthday wishes from Aaron the duty manager.

Then a knock on the door. A gorgeous bouquet of flowers summarily placed in my arms. I was overwhelmed. The next morning sent a photo of the bouquet of flowers to my WhatsAppers with the following message: “The Hilton pulled out all the stops!! These flowers delivered to my door. Wow. Best Birthday of my whole long life!!!” Received a response from Connie:
She: Morning Alexis. It’s actually from Teresa and the others from Aramaz wishing you a Beautiful Happy Birthday Alexis, You can read the wishes from us on the card in the right hand corner.”

Of course I opened the card and laughed hysterically sending it to certain people, quoting the contents.
Me: The card said have a great day and remember not to attract too many men…Hahaha
He: OMG, you are a magnet to men. ..hahaha
Me: How did you guess?????

All in all it was a rather exhausting day. By the end of the day and the next day – I did feel like it was 83 – not the 38.

Have not spoken of two matters that were promised. One other milestone birthday took place on May 29, 1964. I, in cap and gown, attended the University of Alberta Commencement Exercises in the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Alberta. I received my Bachelor of Arts majoring in Sociology. At that time only 10% of the student population were women. There were no, none, nada university graduates in either the extended families of Dryburghs and Piries. I paid for my tuition, worked summers in a meat packing plant to earn enough money to live independently. Worked in the University library during the day – received grants which I paid off by working at the Edmonton YWCA as a Youth Program Director. It was a significant achievement to say the very least.

The next promised revelation. What was I doing when I was 38?? I was in my second year of law school at a night school – San Francisco Law School, located deep in the heart of the ghetto. I went to law school at night as I was working all day as a Juvenile Probation Officer for the County of Marin. Graduated when 40, took the California Bar Exam, passed it and was hired working as a lawyer for County Counsel’s Office. Our office handled the civil litigation on behalf of the County and advised the various departments. I retired at the ripe young age of 61 as by then I had worked for thirty years in various capacities for the County. It is a public sector retirement agency – MCERA, a three billion dollar fund managed expertly. Therefore, what I was doing at the age of 38 was in preparation for my fantastic 83rd birthday. Otherwise, none of this would be possible. Now I gotta admit that if someone told me that I would be living in Malaysia, funding a ten year visa I would have told them they were out of their mind. I had never heard of Malaysia – it was a young and barely burgeoning country at the time. (Burgeoning: beginning to grow or increase rapidly; flourishing. The word has the greatest of synonyms: increase rapidly/exponentially, spring up, shoot up, swell, explode, boom, mushroom, proliferate, snowball, escalate, rocket, skyrocket, run riot, put on a spurt; flourish, thrive, prosper. My favorites are skyrocket and snowball. Snowball because their Ian’t no snow here, that I have seen anyway, in over two years of living here.

Malaysia has made incredible progress over the years. It seems almost prophetic that Prime Minister YAR Dato Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim will be attending an event at the KL Suhba and Conference. I shall be there – so looking forward to perhaps meeting him. In some ways I shall be the youngest Malaysian there – being such a newcomer. I am laughing. If I do meet him I am prepared. I bow my head and in one gesture put my hand over my heart. Checked with Gemini to be sure – my heart is on the left side. The event to be held at a Masjid – I will be clad from head-to-toe with barely my face showing in teal blue. Definitely dressed for success AND appropriately.

I do admit to having some trepidation at the massive changes I am making at this time in my life. Knew I had addressed the issue of overthinking in a prior blog – used the search engine and this is what I founding a January 30, 2024 blog Overthinking, a Sin, I Do It; Quotations From Darker Side of Western Modernity; Overthinking a Special Form of Fear; 6 Tips for Overcoming It; Tragic Example of Mission Accomplished: Title Create the Thing You Wished Existed Extensively Explored: Prologue or Epilogue: Book Writing Not Usually Fun But Cover of Fun One Shown: Photos from My Day at Ithra; The Evils of Saudi Arabia Uber One has to admit I am a great title writer, if nothing else. Hahaha
“Overthinking is actually a special form of fear. This fear is exaggerated and becomes worse when mixed with anticipation, anxiety, imagination and emotion. Learn to accept things as they are. Ask the Almighty to constantly guide you. (Mufti Menk on X)

Overthinking is spoken about in the Quran. We are not actually meant to be thinking about everything and need to be aware of our thoughts and stop ourselves when we do it… especially when overthinking about matters in the unseen (Ghaib) and future. That space is only for Allah (SWT). It is important to think, but not to overthink. In Islam the spiritual guidance illuminates the faculties of reason and perception to enable them to function properly and meanwhile urge us in using them in getting a deeper insight into the reality of things because God created them as a source of guidance. “ Six Islamic tips were provided.