2789.I thought I’d be dead by now © Bruce Goodman 19 July 2023

Selwyn’s favourite saying every birthday was “I thought I’d be dead by now”. He’d said it for years. Whenever anyone said “Happy Birthday Selwyn”, he’d answer with “Thanks, I thought I’d be dead by now.” The most poignant birthday was in the year he recovered from cancer with the devastating radiation treatment. “I thought I’d be dead by now” had added significance that year. But here he still was, celebrating birthday after birthday and as happy as a pig in sh.. “Look at me,” he exclaimed on his 60th birthday. “I thought I’d be dead by now, but I’m as happy as a pig in sh..” A reader might interpret the abbreviated word in that previous phrase as an attempt to cover up a naughty word. But that is not the case. When he exclaimed, “I thought I’d be dead by now, but I’m as happy as a pig in sh..” the dots denote where he dropped dead. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story