Johnny's 20th Birthday
Birthday Weekend
2 July 2005
The original intention had been to hold a party for Johnny on the 3rd, his actual birthday, but his girlfriend's mother was going to have to work on the Monday morning so we brought everything forward.
Saturday morning I was up early to get banners and balloons hanging on the walls before Johnny and Vanessa came down. JJ was around early on to lend a hand and scrubbed the house down whilst I got out and did all the shopping for the meal.
In the afternoon Johnny got on and prepared the terrace and tidied up the garden a bit. The weather was uncertain and the day before I had been well soaked down on the Somme battlefields for the commemorations for the 1st July.
However by the evening as Johnny and Vanessa's families started to arrive it looked as though the weather was going to hold and it was warm enough to take the risk and eat outside.
The youngsters played football, before starting on the blowpipes and paper balls. Once those had been used up Johnny decided that it was time to get the water pistols on the go. Nobody was immune - least of all Johnny - to getting a soaking.
The meal went well, the weather continued to stay balmy and we talked and danced the night away.
Midnight arrived, nobody turned into a pumpkin, and presents were brought out.
See also
Australian Bomber crew remembered