You have reached the mark that some of us know;
you have passed through the years and you’re still in full flow,
built many homes and reared a son and daughter;
yet here you are now, still well on the go.
You have winged your way through Europe and Britain.
You have captured a spouse - yes, he’s completely smitten!
You have blazed a path through this world of ours,
but have you lived a life that is yet to be written?
What about your prowess at the green-baize table
when you bid and complete contracts beyond what I’m able?
With a mixture artfully wrought of both abandon and caution
you secure triumphs that should soon become the stuff of fable!
So we wish you well on this happy day,
and having been there I know what not to say.
Go to it and enjoy all the years to come
and do all that you want and not just what you may!
For Pat Phillips, on her 60th birthday