The birthday present

It was 21st January 1981, I was 15 years old. My brother Adrian and I were celebrating our birthday. I know exactly what I was doing that day, not because of any powers of recall, my memory can be selective. No I know exactly because I wrote it down and the reason that I wrote it down is that amongst the gifts I received that day was a diary. I've been keeping a daily journal ever since and that particular birthday present has become an intregral part of my life.

It was a simpler time we lived in. - Just look at what passed for birthday presents for 15 year old boys in 1981

My brother Adrian who, until his recent decision to "get healthy" I had the self-satisfying pleasure of always referring to as the before twin, on that day received;

-A bright orange 'space hopper' -  from mum and dad
-Various socks and trunks- from siblings and aunties (we called boys underwear trunks in those days)
-A pair of light blue short legged trousers. My brother didn't own a pair of long trousers until he was 16 and then only at the insistence of the school headmaster, but that's a story for another day.
-A flashing yo-yo that would light up when spinning. I secretly wanted this for myself.
-A bunch of bananas- if at any point between the ages of 5 and 18 you had asked my brother what he wanted the answer would have unswervingly been 'a banana'

 This was my brothers favoured mode of transport, he would regularly go to school on one just like this. After a neighbour ask my father if my brother was 'simple' the space hopper mysteriously disappeared.

For me it was;

- An action science chemistry set - from mum and dad.
- The big book of facts - from my siblings.
- A Dick Francis murder mystery jigsaw puzzle ( when you completed the puzzle you could see who shot the jockey, it was a TV camera man who'd done the foul deed) - from an auntie
- A diary - from Elaine; a girl! My mother was desperate for me to 'bond' with Elaine (or perhaps with any girl) Elaine was considered to be 'a plucky girl made of the right stuff'. Mother thought the diary was to herald the start of 'a beautiful friendship'.  Elaine, my beautiful friend, now lives in New York with her husband and two children.

Various 'malodorous' experiments seen me and my chemistry set banished to an old shed and gained me the nick name Smarty McStink Pants.

I think everything you need to know about the difference between my brother and I are summed up in these gifts, he was outdoorsy and fun, I was serious and nerdy. We haven't changed much in the last 30 years. The diary I received that day, wasn't the start of the beautiful friendship my mother was hoping for but it was the start of what has been a life long love of journal keeping.