I don’t remember.
For my 21st, friends threw a surprise party. I came home from work knackered and stinky to be met with a houseful of people. Which was nice.
30th, I was dating a lass in Wales and we had a fairly low-key party at the local working-men’s club.
40th I don’t have the faintest idea, I was with a partner who had perpetual wanderlust so we probably went to Center Parcs or Scotland or something.
As for physical gifts, who knows. The things I treasure most are little things like, my current partner had a padlock engraved with our names. Such a sweet gesture.
I turn 50 in a couple of months, I’m already being asked what I want. The truth is, I don’t want anything physical. I moved house a year ago so I’m time-poor and anything that I / we have needed we’ve just gone and bought. I don’t need books, I have more unread than I know what to do with. Ditto video games. Ditto board games. Ditto chocolate. Ditto pictures and nick-knacks.
An interesting single malt would be well received. I’d quite like some new pans and I really need something to wear on my feet indoors like sandals or slippers, but they’re hardly ‘special’ landmark gifts. Lego?
Rather than stuff, I’d like to do things whilst I still can. Assuming I can get anyone to join me I’m giving serious consideration to taking a week off work and touring the country doing escape rooms, that’s my Thing these days.
A driving experience maybe, I love anything like that. I’ve never tried rally driving, that’s always appealed. Learning things? (Kitchen) knife skills; photography course; axe throwing; veggie-friendly bushcraft; anything else random and a bit off-the-wall really. I want memories, not clutter. I miss friends.