Day Four : Birthday Surprises!

Day Four Friday, December 4, 2009:
Tonight, my favorite family customers came into the restaurant to celebrate the patriarch's 75th birthday. I first met the elder couple around this time last year when their son treated them for their 48th wedding anniversary (their 49th is coming up soon) I loved these people from the first time I served them. Such sweet people! So, they came in to celebrate Alfred Puente's 75th birthday. It is already customary at our restaurant to give the celebrant one of our special desserts: coconut creme brulee or banana spring roll. Instead, I went next door to the pizza place and asked for two slices of chocolate cake put a candle on top and i got a couple scoops of sorbet , since i knew that they don't really eat dairy products. We sang happy birthday to him with his family and everyone got to have some dessert for the evening. Having Alfred turning 75 this year was particularly special for him and the family. Alfred had stepped away from the table after dinner and prior to me getting the surprise desserts out and mentioned that a couple months ago he had undergone some hernia surgery and shortly suffered a heart attack. Well, here he is telling me this while all day I had been complaining about my malaise and sore muscles and aches. He didn't even look like he was in the hospital, just healthy as when i first met them. So, that was my gift of day four. The gift of birthday cake and sorbet. yum! In return he gave me the gift of reminding me that my ailments are but a speck compared to my life if i am to live as long as him.