"At the end of the day you're another day older."

So today was my birthday… Joyce made a lovely chocolate cake for me which was quite a surprise, and she invited Yvonne and I over for lunch at her house. In light of everything that’s been going on with them and the death in Henri’s family, it was quite amazing that she pulled all this off for me; making it special and seem like a real birthday. She’s a wonderful lady!

It was a cloudy, dreary sort of day, and I spent part of the morning getting food for some patients in the hospital who don’t have relatives to provide for them. The best birthday present I got was the money for a ticket to Brazzaville so I can go to meet my father when he comes. I am really excited about that!

In the afternoon it cleared up, and I got to Skype my family for a nice long time, which was great. Couldn’t get the video to work but hearing their voices was very good. Helena and Yvonne joined me for part of it, and my “mama” Olga stopped in and sang happy birthday to me. It was very sweet. We were planning to take a walk in the evening (the closest thing to a midnight hike that’s possible here) but Tim and Esther both got called in for several surgeries, so that plan didn’t work out.

I got multiple text messages and a few phone calls from various people wishing me well, spent a quiet evening at home writing notes to departing visitors, and went to bed early.