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A pond-hopping 80th birthday 'sprinkled with love and surprises'

Jill Summerhayes has many to thank for a month-long birthday celebration that began with a trip home to England after a three-year absence
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Jill Summerhayes, left, blows out the candles on her tiered-candle 80th birthday cake.

For many years each spring I visited England, my place of birth. My last visit was in 2018 because, during the pandemic, I missed my annual trips. Being able to enjoy a return visit this past April was a treat; my favourite time to visit my family and to savour and enjoy the countryside.

With bluebell-carpeted woods, framed by the silky, spring green beech leaves; the dainty hedgerow primroses and cowslips, narrow lane ways lined with blossoming blackthorn bushes, it is beautiful time. 

My decision for this self- indulgent column is having reached the age where I chose to do more of what pleases me, and less of less of what I think will please others, I am sharing my magic month.

My family in England planned major celebrations using our three-year absence and my upcoming 80th birthday as an excuse. I was notified of “party dates” and asked for some input.

It was soon obvious I had not fully understood the care and trouble my family took to make the entire visit celebratory. It was a little overwhelming, after years of not socializing to be honoured so much. I was delighted to see friends, and cousins, nieces and nephews and others not seen for years. 

There were more cakes, hors d’oeuvres, champagne toasts, sprinkled with love and surprises bestowed upon me than I ever expected. It was exhaustingly exhilarating, leaving me with wonderful memories and feeling very loved. 

Travel with new restrictions is not easy, filling out the paperwork for Arrive Can is complex, but once done it works well.

Wearing a mask for the entire flight is not pleasant. Crowded airports and long hours waiting make me look forward to future flights by Flair airlines, in Waterloo. Yet with all the difficulties, they pale in comparison to the pleasures of being able to travel again, to hug relatives and friends you have missed. 

We stayed first with my eldest daughter Alison and family in Highgate, London. On the first night feeling jet-lagged and tired we were asked to please stay awake long enough to have dinner with Alison. She took us by Uber to a very prestigious restaurant in Covent Garden, The Ivy, where her husband Brad joined us. It was a delightful, elegant setting. 

My son, Michael, lives in New York, and I had spoken to him before leaving Canada, a day ago. What a huge joyful surprise when he suddenly appeared and joined us. He had been in Oslo on business and dropped into London on his return trip, he said, “to start my celebrations off in style.” 

It was a lovely evening. Then on the Saturday Alison and her family held a cocktail party for me at their home with 40 guests, friends, and family. The entertaining jazz pianist had played at the Ritz the previous night, he was superb and provided background ambience.

The following day we were driven by my brother Michael and wife Caroline, to their cottage in the Malvern Hills near Ledbury, a lovely area.

A cousin who lives in Wales, who I love dearly but had not seen for 20 years, came to visit for a couple of days. What a delightful interlude. Next back to their 400-year-old farmhouse in Sandon nestled in the countryside, near the town of Royston, where I was born.

On the Friday evening their children and grandchildren came for the weekend. On the Saturday 16 of us had dinner together. On the Sunday a lunch party with more guests, Salmon en Croute and Raspberry Roulade, with lots more champagne. An entire weekend celebrating. The weather was sunny and warm, and we were able to have drinks and canapes in the garden. We returned to London by train for our final few days and a couple more smaller celebrations.

Once back home my younger daughter, Helen, who lives in Cambridge had planned my party here on the day of my 80th, 23rd of May. I am blessed to have many friends who I’ve met in my 43 years in Cambridge. As a “people” person figuring who to invite was not easy. To select people who had a significant impact on my life for varying reasons seemed the answer, not just a few of my closest friends. 

This included a friend from my first high school in England, Roger, who now lives in Burlington. A dear friend Wendy from my college days in the U.K. The neighbours we first met when moving to Cambridge, everyone included had played a special role at some point. Most of them were people who had known me for more than half my life. 

The addition of a few more recent close friends included the wonderful owners and my facilitator from the heart healing Coping Centre in Blair.

My creative, artistic friend Joe Lethbridge, acted as the “official photographer.” My smiling, friendly, social connection during COVID lockdown, Margie from Basics Food Store. My stepdaughters and their husbands came from out of town as an added surprise.

And my husband David, who I met just over nine years ago who brought sunshine, laughter, travel, and love back into my life after the death of my late husband Stuart. 

The party planning involved many excellent Cambridge businesses, which included tasty finger foods and a cake crafted by Gord McSevney at the Bake Shop on Main with a wonderful, tiered candle stand that held 80 candles.

To complete this extravaganza, members of the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra entertained us with the likes of Gershwin and The Beatles.

It was a very memorable occasion, perfectly planned and organized. The toasts from long time friends, including one from our past Mayor Doug Craig, who I worked with on the Centre for the Arts, were very complimentary and meaningful to me.

I could not have wished for anything more to complete my month of celebration.

My body knows full well it is eighty years old but still in my mind I’m youthful and whilst that means my expectations of myself are out of whack with my capabilities, it’s not a bad thing. 

I thank everyone involved for their participation. Now I’ve had a month of celebration and reached 80 years old, it’s time to get back to a regular life!