Hi everyone,

Autumn has been a busy season for both resident and staff birthdays alike. We on F floor have consumed quite a lot of birthday cake recently – not that anyone is complaining! In view of all the celebrations I thought I would share with you all the surprise birthday party the staff of F floor threw me for my birthday recently.

I guess it was fate for me to have a surprise birthday party at work. As luck would have it I was out of house in training in the morning.  This as I have now been told by the staff lent itself perfectly to plan the surprise.

In hindsight, I should have picked up on the clues that something different was going on…I arrived to the unit just after lunchtime and I bumped into one of my colleagues who I thought seemed a little shocked to see me. She said “Hi” and quickly disappeared, not the usual reaction to my presence! Within minutes another member of staff popped into my office and requested that I went with her to check something in the stock room -another clue maybe? After another 10 minutes I was then asked by another colleague to double check something else however this time in the Sunflower lounge…As I arrived to the Sunflower lounge a collection of around 15 staff burst into the happy birthday song!! At this point I felt a lump in my throat and could feel my eyes welling up! I couldn’t believe the trouble the staff had gone to for my birthday!

The room was decorated with balloons and banners and a table of party food had been prepared along with birthday cake! It truly was a very touching surprise birthday party.

At this point I fully realised how lucky I was to work with such a kind and thoughtful group of people, I was so overwhelmed by the gesture it took me a while to believe my eyes! I was presented with a beautiful birthday card hand-crafted by a resident of the Home, along with a lovely selection of chocolates and flowers. Having been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a birthday party thrown by the staff here I now have some idea of how residents may feel when they celebrate their birthdays within the Home. It would be safe to say that this was a birthday the staff ensured I will never forget!

Thanks for reading, look forward to writing another blog soon!

Lauren