The Queen Mom’s Birthday

A few notable things happened on the Queen Mother’s birthday:

1) She got a card from a friend showing an old lady in a crown and caftan with a caption something like “Queen for a Day”, which the friend amended to ready “Queen Mother for a day ever.”

2) She got another card which presented one woman saying to another: “Bitch. She only has two chins.” I found this particularly amusing since I have always had a second chin. I think when they “corrected” my double thumb my body compensated by growing a double chin.

3) She did not understand the present I gave her for a full two minutes. It was a set of all the Michael Apted Up Documentaries – in which he follows a group of British kids and re-visits them every seven years.

“The Up Series.” (Blank look.)
“Yeah, Mom. You know…Seven Up?”
“7-Up?”
“21 Up … the last one we saw was 35 Up…”
“Oooooohhhhh.” Polite but still baffled.
“The little boy who wanted to be a jockey, but then [SPOILER ALERT!] he was too big to be a jockey, and that one guy who became homeless – “

Finally she got it. I was a little worried. When you see something every SEVEN YEARS SINCE 1977 you would think a person would remember it. I’ve always heard it was the short-term memory that is the first to go, but evidently not.

Well then, just in case, Mom – don’t forget today’s my birthday!