My youngest son turned 18 last week and it certainly wasn't the 18th birthday he had dreamt of! Israel is currently in its third lockdown, so he celebrated his special birthday at home with mum and dad! When I think back to how I celebrated my 18th birthday - at Romeo and Juliet's in Hull, a nightclub which has long since disappeared - it does feel rather sad, but we are all healthy and safe at home, and Mister Handmade in Israel and I have received both of our Covid-19 vaccinations. It's all good.
Eighteen seems pretty old but then I do have one son already serving his compulsory service in the Israeli army. His younger brother will be finishing school this summer and will start his service shortly afterwards. Israel has just started to vaccinate the kids who, in the coming months, will be doing their bagrut, Israel's high school matriculation examination. He received his first shot a couple of days ago and will hopefully be able to prepare for his exams in some way, even though he hasn't been inside his school for almost a year!
My son has received a birthday card made by me ever since he turned 1. The first card of his that I showed on this blog was from his 6th birthday. It featured Dracula and bats! In recent years his cards seem to have been mostly dog themed. We never did get him a dog and probably should have done, but he is still passionate about them and I guess will one day have a dog of his own. The dog that appears on his 18th birthday card is Tofu, our neighbour's dog, who Gadi walks daily. In fact Tofu was with us when my son was opening his birthday cards, so Tofu was shown his paper portrait, above, and it seemed to meet with approval 😉.
My son has passed his driving test since his last birthday and when we are not in lockdown, likes to take Mister Handmade in Israel's car for a spin with his friends. I have shown the car on his card and he is proudly pointing to the car keys. He supports our local football team, Ironi Modi'in F.C., so I added the club badge to his card as well. Of course he's 18 now, so he can legally enjoy a beer with his friends. I included an overflowing beer glass, along with his precious phone which never leaves his hand.
Even at 18 it seems that he was very happy with his customised card handmade by Mum. The box of boutique beers that we had delivered went down very well too and of course there was cake. Writing all of this down has made me realise that it wasn't such a bad birthday after all!
* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things, Craft Schooling Sunday and All Seasons.
