Dinner with MaryAnn, Steve and Harry with Jenny after the Cocktail Hour. Jenny took several pictures ( 36) during the Cocktail and I am posting some of them at the bottom of this page.
Ninety-One Years: A Birthday Reflection
Today is December 20 and I am celebrating my 91st birthday. Today, I find myself looking back, not out of longing, but out of gratitude. At this stage of life, time moves differently. It doesn’t rush the way it used to; instead, it settles quietly beside me, offering its memories like folded letters I can open at my own pace and leisure.
Remembering the Long Journey
Inside those letters are the many versions of myself: the young immigrant who left home in search of opportunity, the naturalized American who worked hard to claim his place, the husband, father, grandfather and now, twice this year, a great-grandfather.
Becoming a great-grandfather feels like being given two new sunrises. Their tiny fingers and soft breaths remind me how the story continues long after we imagine our chapters are done.
My Years in Service- My FDA Years Photo
Another letter contains the professional life I built at the FDA, years of careful, demanding, but deeply meaningful work in public health. I remember the weight and responsibility of the job, especially during the aftermath of 9/11, when so much of the nation felt unsteady. Those experiences shaped me in profound ways; they remain part of the steel in my spine and the steadiness in my convictions.
A Writer at Heart
Then there is the writer in me, the man who, in 2009, began to blog without any idea that it would become a daily ritual, a personal archive, a companion. Over time, my blog posts became footprints documenting the landscapes of my life: family, politics, faith, culture, memory, and the ordinary moments that give each day its quiet meaning.
Today, My Life at The Heritage Downtown(THD), Walnut Creek, CA
Today I live at THD, where the pace has slowed but the stories have not. Life in a senior community carries its own humor, tenderness, and unpredictability. I watch my fellow residents navigate their days with grace and grit; I admire and grateful to the staff who make this place feel like home; and I continue to observe, reflect, and write about the rhythms of senior life. It is another chapter, different from earlier ones, but no less meaningful.
Gathering the Years
At ninety-one, I no longer chase the years. I gather them. I turn them over the way one might examine shells along a beach, each one shaped by time, carrying echoes of laughter, sorrow, triumph, loss, and love.
And through all of it, I still feel profoundly alive. Still curious. Still writing. Still grateful.
A Birthday Wish to Myself
So as I welcome another December 20, I do so with simple gratitude for the extraordinary, complicated, beautiful life I’ve lived. Ninety-one years and somehow, the ink on my pen has not yet run dry.
Meanwhile, here's a poem on this occasion, prepared by my Writing Assistants.
🎂 Ninety-One: A Birthday Poem for December 20 🎂
by David Balleza Katague
At ninety-one, the days feel softer,
as if time itself has learned gentleness,
not rushing, not demanding,
just placing moments in my hands
like folded letters from years gone by.
I open each one slowly.
There is the boy who left home for a larger world,
the young man who built a life in a country
that once felt far away,
the naturalized American still proving, even now,
how deeply one can love a place
that didn’t love him first,
but eventually learned to.
There is the professional,
the long chapter wearing the badge of the FDA,
scientist, regulator, guardian of public health.
The work was meticulous, demanding,
but noble in the way quiet service always is.
I carried it with pride,
as I carried my share of the nation’s burdens
after 9/11.
Those memories live in me like iron,
weighty, unbending, unforgettable.
There is the writer,
the man who began, to blog in 2009
and never stopped.
The stories stretch behind me
like a long, wandering coastline:
family memories, politics, reflections,
daily joys, and quiet griefs,
each post another footprint
in the sand of a life well-lived.
And now, here at THD,
the days continue in a gentler rhythm.
Walks down familiar hallways,
the laughter of friends, bridge and mahjong,
the quirks and sweetness of my fellow residents,
the dedicated staff who weave their care
into our ordinary days.
I observe it all,
noticing, remembering, writing,
a chronicler of senior life.
And this year,
two miracles arrived
with tiny fingers and impossibly small toes:
my two great-grandchildren.
Two new branches on a tree
that has grown through storms and seasons,
reaching farther than I ever dreamed
when I first planted its roots.
They are my sunrise.
I am their long, steady dusk.
At ninety-one, I do not chase years,
I gather them.
I turn them over like seashells,
listening to what they still echo.
Gratitude.
Love.
Work well done.
Stories still unfolding.
And so on this birthday,
I lift my eyes to the December sky
and say simply:
I am still here.
Still learning.
Still writing.
Still loving this beautiful, simple life.
Ninety-one years, and the ink has not run dry.
My Activity for Today:
7AM-11AM- Reflection, Morning Mediation and Writing/Reading
12-2PM- Birthday Lunch for Family ( for 10) at FOB Kitchen, Temescal District, Oakland
3-4 PM -Nap Time and Checking E-mail/Writing/Reading
5PM Dinner at THD with Bridge, Mahjong and Chair Volleyball Friends, etc..
7PM -10PM TV Time with Batman and Robin
10:30PM- Sleeping Time and Gratitude Time for the Day
Special Thanks: To Jenny S, Gween C, Sue H. Marsha K and Sandi G for their birthday cards greetings. To Dick B, for his singing telephone greetings. To Jane W for the book she gave;
To Alex, our musician guest yesterday who allowed me to sing with him, My Way, along with his energetic musical performance, that was fantastic and exceeded the one hour schedule. Alex has outdone himself last night. To the Servers and Kitchen Crew, Office/Activity Staff who sang at the Cocktail Hour Event yesterday. And for the special appetizer of Lumpia and Puto ordered by Joel...The Puto ( rice cake) was a surprised.
May I repeat what I said in my blog last night. This memorable event in the Sunset of My Life will be one of the Highlights in my Book of Memories. Gratitude, Gratitude and Gratitude, Indeed!
Last but not least a video of Pleasant Memories at Chateau Du Mer, 2016. Macrine(RIP) with her first cousins (Nieva Men and their Wives) serenading her with the song Some Enchanting Evening from South Pacific
Some of the amazing and beautiful photos taken by Jenny yesterday Afternoon, at the Cocktail Hour :
https://www.facebook.com/david.b.katague/videos/10206321560494258/
