Unhappy birthday

I'm fortunate in that there are only a few things in my life that make me sad. And one of those is that my brother, Wol, doesn't like his birthday. I wish he did but I think its proximity to Christmas has always made it - from his perspective, at least - a bit of a non-event. 

He's always been clear about this - like the year he intended to spend the whole day in bed, for example - and I think it's a failing of mine that I've never been willing to simply accept that. I've always had this conceit that I could convince him to enjoy his birthday. So, this year, I decided to really focus on his birthday presents but somehow that became merged with his Christmas presents and I wonder if I haven't just inadvertently emphasised the problem. 

Anyway, I was going to post them to him in Spain but as he's passing through our folks' house in a few days' time, I decided to take them down there today, instead. I took Mum and Dad out for a curry and then came back to their house and wrapped them all up. Here they all are: I hope they make him happy but - you know what? - I know this is all still more for me than for him. 

Happy birthday, Wol (regardless). Love Fen.