Birthdays - A lot more people were involved

Escape the Claustrophobia

So many things make the day one was born rather unique and very interesting. Christmas came very early for one's parents but one did not spend Christmas with either of them.

As students in England then, mother had arrived to join her spouse just six and a half months before; the rest is history. One is no master of suspense, so here goes.

One was born at about 27 weeks, after a Caesarean Section, one was told. [Google, yes one did mean Caesarean Section and have never meant to search for Caesarean Section].

In 1965, 27 weeks was considered rather precarious and the borderline of viability, well one is now 38.

One's take on premature birth

• No birth is premature, especially if you are no more a foetus but a baby
• For some babies, 40 weeks is just over-indulgent [Absurd suggestions that gestation human gestation periods should be 21 months]; I will say, I was claustrophobic and wanted out
• OK, one only just fitted in one hand, but many saw the sense in making sure one realised one's intentions of living
• No further research is done on early babies once they begin to thrive
• It is possible the year-cycle of early birth babies is shorter than that of full term babies

Going on the last assumption, in full-term years, one would is 38 however on one's terms, one might really be rather sprightly 56 years and 3 months. The birthdates being a movable feast of recurring intervals.

Apart from the birth throes of mother, one was in incubation for another 2 months until February the 19th when one was allowed home.

One medical allusion to that day was when at eight the optometrist [compare with optician and ophthalmologist] in spite of the large amount of light shone in one's eyes at birth; one's sight should improve with age. One only found out about that kind of improvement 2 days ago.

One might not have been a bouncing baby boy, but one was still a bundle of joy tinged with anxiety, which prayerfully gave way to the life one has now lived.

Names

It is no surprise one's given name connotes heroism the gift of one's paternal grandpa. Eventually, one ended up with about 20 names. The Yoruba culture of Western Nigeria gives their children meaningful names based around the circumstances of birth.

The Yoruba given names supposedly have a psychological influence on the bearer; at times, certain observers have suggested people can exhibit characteristics of their names. The extensions to names are encouraging works of literary value recited by grandparents called Oriki.

On further research, it is interesting to see that quite a number of Japanese names look and sound very much like Yoruba names, considering we have no known historical or cultural links.

Aki in Japanese means autumn or Autumnal prefixes names like Akinobu, Akinori, Akiyuki and so on. There is a possibility that one possesses some the characteristics of the Turkish variant of Akin.

On a visit to Hungary a few years ago, the chauffeur from the airport had one's name card expecting to see a Japanese tourist, imagine his shock and surprise.

This presents an opportunity to thank the staff of Manor Maternity Home, Walsall [Vandalised by the Tory Health Deforms of the 1990s] and the Brooklands Hospital Marston Green, Birmingham for their hard work of love and care on that beautiful day in December 1965.

One will have a happy birthday.

The Dutch Experience

One is impelled to revisit an issue that came up earlier about stores and customer service. Having just spent nigh on €1,000 on equipment, which included the Dyson DCO8 Allergy+Carpetpro, one required the simple assistance calling a taxi and moving the goods to taxi rank.

In the typical nonchalant Dutch attitude, one was informed no such service existed and one had to do it all alone. Guess what happened when one asked for one's money back?

When one purchases to the tune of a €1,000 from a large electronics store like Media Markt, it should come with an implicit customer service and help offer; you never have to ask in the UK.

Postscript

Yoruba

Here are a number of websites pertaining to Yoruba names and culture.

Nigerian names and origins

Orisa Yoruba Names ISBN 0964424754

Learn Yoruba Names

Without Prejudice - The Manor Hospital

Rebuilt and renamed Manor Hospital as part of the first tranche of National Health Service reforms in 1991. Some of the stories are hardly what the people of Walsall were accustomed to in the 1960s.

The introduction does not include the history of a pre-existing hospital on the site.

Hospital from hell

The Guardian - The facts behind the figures that damn Walsall